Shade, The | |||||||||||
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| Properties |
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| Name of Work | Shade, The | ||||||||||
| Production Date | 1880-1904 | ||||||||||
| Production Location | France Paris | ||||||||||
| Current Location | France Paris Musee Rodin | ||||||||||
| Media Types | Bronze | ||||||||||
| General Notes | |||||||||||
Description
It is a full-size male nude figure, in bronze. It is one of three variations, which formed the group "The Shades" as part of the larger group, "Gates of Hell". The figure is bent abnormally at the neck as if under some tremendous load or something is distorting his ability to stand upright.
Theme
The world destroys man. (Some unknown evil force is destroying this young strong man.) Given that the sculpture is titled as a "Shade" and is related to the Group sculpture "Gates of Hell", one can presume the evil is some unnamed condition that can overpower life and cause destruction of the good.
Emotional Sum or Sense-of-life
Life is a gruesome trial. There is no hope.
Context Information
There may be several full-size versions of this work. Certainly, there is one in Paris and one in Philadelphia. There is or was the original model (in clay?) from which the Paris bronze was cast and presumably from which the Philly was cast as well. The "Three Shades" is a group that sits atop the "Gates of Hell" work, and the Shades in this case are much smaller, perhaps 30" tall.
Tags
Gates of Hell, Rodin
Scale
