Condition: This sculpture is in perfect condition
Bronze Dimensions with Marble Base: Height 15 inches X Width 5 inches
Marble Dimensions:5 inches X 5 inches
Height without base:14 inches
Weight:9 LBS
Inventory:87-880338078

Original or Reproduction: Reproduction

Rodin was profoundly influenced by the work of Michelangelo. His direct study of Renaissance masterpiecesboth during his time in Italy and in the Musee du Louvre in Parisseems to have revealed to him many of the secrets behind Michelangelos extraordinary modeling. In this sculpture, Rodin draws on those lessons to express the inner anguish and intense concentration of a powerful yet immobilized figure. Two of Michelangelos works help explain both the meaning and origin of the unusual gestures Rodin assigned to Adam. As noted by Albert Elsen in the catalogue for Rodin at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the figures right arm alludes to The Creation of Man from the Sistine Chapel fresco in the Vatican, while the left arm echoes the form of the dead Christ from the Pieta in the Cathedral of Florence. Elsen summarized Rodins intention beautifully: The figure is framed by the beginning and end of life; between these, his body shows its tortured existence.