Bacchantes Embracing (Bacchantes s'enlaçant)
European Art
Rodin executed more than half a dozen groups of embracing female lovers in poses of ecstasy and abandon, including Bacchantes Embracing and Damned Women (on view nearby). Although it is not known when this work was titled or by whom, the allusion to mythology placed these passionate figures at a temporal and conceptual remove, thus making the then-taboo subject more acceptable to a conservative audience. Interestingly, one of the women here is not even a bacchante (a follower of the wine god Bacchus), but rather a female faun, identified by her goatlike legs and cloven hooves.
CAST BY
Aage Fersing
MEDIUM
Bronze
DATES
possibly before 1896; cast after 1967
DIMENSIONS
15 × 15 × 11 in. (38.1 × 38.1 × 27.9 cm) (show scale)
MARKINGS
Near signature: "CIRE PERDUE AF"
SIGNATURE
On rock behind figure with proper right knee up: "Rodin"
INSCRIPTIONS
Rock, side toward which upraised elbow points: "VII/XII"
COLLECTIONS
European Art
ACCESSION NUMBER
84.77.2
CREDIT LINE
Gift of Iris and B. Gerald Cantor
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Auguste Rodin (French, 1840–1917). Bacchantes Embracing (Bacchantes s'enlaçant), possibly before 1896; cast after 1967. Bronze, 15 × 15 × 11 in. (38.1 × 38.1 × 27.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Iris and B. Gerald Cantor, 84.77.2. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 84.77.2_bw.jpg)
EDITION
Edition: VII/12
IMAGE
overall, 84.77.2_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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