Toilette de Vénus

(1885)

This sensual Venus figure is based on the kneeling feminine faun in the Tympan from The Gates of Hell, a bronze portal meant for the Nusee des Arts Décoratifs, which was never finished. The faun is part of the complex composition of charming nudes to both sides of the famous The Thinker, at the top of The Gates of Hell. With firm and authentic spheres, Rodin created a playful distinction between shadow and light, rendering a strong, yet vulnerable, woman – intangible for mankind, but not for the artist Rodin.