Updated 08 April 2025
Currently not on display
Photo by (c) Norihiro Ueno
Currently not on display
Fallen Caryatid Carrying Her Stone
| Date | c. 1881-82 |
|---|---|
| Materials and Techniques | bronze |
| Size（cm） | 44 x 32 x 30 |
| Inscriptions | Signed back of base: A. Rodin; Foundry mark lower right back of base: Alexis. Rudier / Fondeur. Paris |
| Credit Line | Matsukata Collection |
| Standard ref. | M1258 |
| Category | Sculptures |
| Collection Number | S.1959-0010 |
This sculpture of a young woman belongs in a niche in the upper left column of The Gates of Hell. As it is placed in a high position of over 4 metres from the plinth, it is barely visible from ground level. However, here, it is presented as an independent sculpture of its own. In contrast to the ancient Greek caryatid in upright position lightly supporting a heavy stone beam, she is battered by the burden on her shoulders and is trying to endure the severe hardship half awake, half asleep. The dynamic struggle between the heaviness of the stone and her pose conveying the gravity from her right hand to her right leg results in a visually superb balance. This caryatid is a symbolic existence bearing the burden weighing heavily on mankind all on her own. (Source: The Digital Gallery. 1999-2006)
Provenance
Bought from Musée Rodin by Kojiro Matsukata, Kobe through Léonce Bénédite, ca. April 1919, as ‘Cariatide’ (Fr. 12,000) [see several letters between Bénédite and Suzuki & Co., April 1919, in Archives of Musée Rodin, Paris; copy in NMWA curatorial files]; sequestered by French government, 1944; vested in French government under San Francisco Peace Treaty, 1952; transferred from French to Japanese government, 23 January 1959; entered into NMWA, April 1959.
Exhibition History
- 1966
- Rodin, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 23 July 1966 - 11 September 1966, cat. no. 19
- 1989
- Rodin et la Porte de l’Enfer (Rodin and the Gates of Hell), National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 21 October 1989 - 17 December 1989, cat. no. 18
- 1994
- Kokuritsu Seiyo Bijyutsukan shozo sakuhin ni yoru yoroppa bijyutsu eno shotai, Karatsu City Library, 12 November 1994 - 11 December 1994, cat. no. 12, col. repr.
- 2015
- Japan's Love for Impressionism: From Monet to Renoir, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn, 8 October 2015 - 21 February 2016, cat. no. 129, col. repr.
- 2022
- Renoir—Monet—Gauguin: Images of a Floating World: the Collections of Kōjirō Matsukata and Karl Ernst Osthaus, Museum Folkwang, 6 February 2022 - 15 May 2022
Bibliography
- 1990
- The Old Matsukata Collection. Kobe City Museum, ed. Kobe, "Matsukata Korekushon Ten" Jikkoiinkai, 1990, cat. no. S-24.
- 1994
- Kokuritsu Seiyo Bijutsukan Shozo Sakuhin ni Yoru Europa Bijutsu e no Shotai (exh. cat.). Karatsu City Library; National Museum of Wetsern Art. Karatsu, Karatsu City Library, 1994, cat. no. 12, col. repr.
- 2015
- Japan's Love for Impressionism: From Monet to Renoir (exh. cat.). Marks-Hanssen, Beate, ed. Bonn, Bundeskunsthalle, 2015, pp. 203, 247, cat. no. 129, col. repr.
- 2019
- The Matsukata Collection: Complete Catalogue of the European Art. Kawaguchi, Masako; Jingaoka, Megumi, eds. vol. 2: Sculpture, Drawings, Prints and Decorative Arts and Other Works, Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2019, cat. no. 1258, col. repr.
- 2022
- Renoir—Monet—Gauguin: Images of a Floating World: the Collections of Kōjirō Matsukata and Karl Ernst Osthaus (exh.cat.). Engel, Nadine; Herlemann, Rebecca, eds. Berlin, Hatje Cantz, [2022], pp. 233, 367, col. repr.