Skip Navigation

Youth Triumphant (La Jeunesse triomphante)

European Art

On View:
In this enigmatic group Rodin joined the figures of an elderly and a young woman embracing. Their relationship is unclear: Rodin did not always attach a specific meaning or narrative to his works, nor did he grant too much importance to titles, leaving things open to a range of interpretations. The piece has also been called Fate and the Convalescent and Young Girl and Fate, which both seem to refer to the small scissors on the back. In this reading, the old woman is Fate, who has dropped her scissors and will not be snipping the delicate thread of the young woman’s life. The title Youth Triumphant suggests an allegory of the life cycle, with youth rising to overcome age.

The wizened old woman here epitomizes Rodin’s frequent interest in depicting unconventional or unidealized figures.
MEDIUM Bronze
  • Place Made: France
  • DATES 1896; cast date unknown (after 1898)
    DIMENSIONS 20 1/2 x 18 x 12 3/4 in. (52.1 x 45.7 x 32.4 cm)  (show scale)
    MARKINGS Side with feet, stamp for Thiébaut
    SIGNATURE Bottom right: "A. Rodin"
    COLLECTIONS European Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 84.210.2
    CREDIT LINE Gift of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Auguste Rodin (French, 1840–1917). Youth Triumphant (La Jeunesse triomphante), 1896; cast date unknown (after 1898). Bronze, 20 1/2 x 18 x 12 3/4 in. (52.1 x 45.7 x 32.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, 84.210.2. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 84.210.2_SL1.jpg)
    EDITION Edition: 23/unknown
    IMAGE overall, 84.210.2_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT 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.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.