Hand of Rodin With Torso
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
Several weeks before Rodin’s death, in 1917, one of his assistants made a life cast of his right hand at the request of the man who would become the first curator of the Musée Rodin in Paris. It is not known whose idea it was to create the present composite work by placing within this hand one of Rodin’s tiny modeled female torsos, which probably dates from the 1880s (when he created many similar figures for The Gates of Hell). The composition is consistent with other works by Rodin in which a hand cradles a human form, and it resonates as well with the sculptor’s documented belief in an artist’s godlike ability to create life and beauty in human form.
Caption
Auguste Rodin French, 1840–1917. Hand of Rodin With Torso, 1917, cast 1971. Bronze, 6 3/4 × 9 1/4 × 5 in. (17.1 × 23.5 × 12.7 cm) mount (dimensions as installed): 7 × 4 × 9 1/2 in. (17.8 × 10.2 × 24.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, 84.210.7. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 84.210.7_bw_SL3.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Hand of Rodin With Torso
Date
1917, cast 1971
Geography
Place made: France
Medium
Bronze
Classification
Dimensions
6 3/4 × 9 1/4 × 5 in. (17.1 × 23.5 × 12.7 cm) mount (dimensions as installed): 7 × 4 × 9 1/2 in. (17.8 × 10.2 × 24.1 cm)
Signatures
Inside of wrist: "A. Rodin'
Markings
Top edge of wrist: ".Georges Rudier./.Fondeur. Paris." Copyright mark--Top edge of wrist: "© by Musée Rodin 1971"
Credit Line
Gift of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation
Accession Number
84.210.7
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
Frequent Art Questions
What exactly is "Hand of Rodin With Torso" with torso about?
The mold for this bronze sculpture was created from Auguste Rodin's own hand by one of his assistants. It commemorates the hand of the artist and his role in the creation of his art, like the small torso shown.A parallel can also be drawn between the hand of Rodin and the hand of God as creator.Thank you.You're welcome! The cast of Rodin's hand was actually requested by the man who would later become the first curator of the Rodin Museum in France.Cool!Tell me more.
The mold for this bronze sculpture was created from Auguste Rodin's own hand by one of his assistants. It commemorates the hand of the artist and his role in the creation of his art, like the small torso shown.Although the hand itself was cast by his assistant, the torso it holds was one of Rodin's own pieces. A parallel can also be drawn between the hand of Rodin and the hand of God as creator.I don't know much about sculpture. In the Rodin exhibit, what does it mean for the cast to be attributed to someone?
When it says Cast by "Insert name here" that refers to the foundry, or metal working factory, that actually produced the bronze. Rodin made the clay sculptures and oversaw the production of the plaster molds but he worked with foundries to do the actually bronze casting. Casting is the process of pouring the molten bronze into the mold and then extracting it once it has hardened.Ohh okay. That makes more sense now! Thanks!
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