Collection

The Fallen Angel, or Illusions Received by the Earth (La Chute d'un ange, ou Les Illusions reçues par la Terre)

Auguste Rodin

Brooklyn Museum photograph

Object Label

Like Bacchantes Embracing and Damned Women (both on view nearby), this work presents a scene of lovemaking between two women, with a title that transports the figures to a time or place removed from the viewer’s own. The Fallen Angel appears set in a world of allegory, with the crouching woman, perhaps symbolizing the earthly realm, drawing the winged female into a gentle embrace. Both figures seem to emerge organically from the ground.

Caption

Auguste Rodin (French, 1840–1917). The Fallen Angel, or Illusions Received by the Earth (La Chute d'un ange, ou Les Illusions reçues par la Terre), by 1900; cast before 1952. Bronze, 20 1/2 x 32 3/4 x 22 1/4 in. (52.1 x 83.2 x 56.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Iris and B. Gerald Cantor, 84.77.5. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Gallery

Not on view

Title

The Fallen Angel, or Illusions Received by the Earth (La Chute d'un ange, ou Les Illusions reçues par la Terre)

Date

by 1900; cast before 1952

Geography

Place made: France

Medium

Bronze

Classification

Sculpture

Dimensions

20 1/2 x 32 3/4 x 22 1/4 in. (52.1 x 83.2 x 56.5 cm)

Signatures

Top of base near feathers on side with pointing hand: "A. Rodin"

Markings

Lower edge, long side with seated figure's left knee: "ALEXIS RUDIER./FONDEUR. PARIS."

Credit Line

Gift of Iris and B. Gerald Cantor

Accession Number

84.77.5

Frequent Art Questions

  • Tell me more.

    Rodin enjoyed experimenting with depictions of lesbian intercourse and affection but he had to take precaution with the names, which transformed them into allegories and made them more socially acceptable.

  • Tell me more.

    Rodin did several sculptures of intertwined bodies that seem to organically rise up from the earth.
    This work presents a scene of lovemaking between two women. One figure perhaps symbolizes the earthly realm and the other, with wings, would be the angel.

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Artists and makers

Auguste Rodin

75 works in the collection

Alexis Rudier Fondeur, Paris

6 works in the collection