Eve

Auguste Rodin 1840 - 1917

Summary

Eve was originally intended, with Adam, to flank the Gates of Hell, the huge portal inspired by Dante's Inferno, which Rodin worked on from 1880 intermittently until his death. The figure represents Eve with the knowledge of Sin after the expulsion from Paradise. Rodin deliberately recalls Michelangelo's version on the Sistine ceiling: but the figure's huddled, inward-moving pose is a picture of individual suffering. The cast exhibited here was commissioned from the artist by the Art Gallery Committee in 1911.

Display Label

Eve 1911 Auguste Rodin 1840 - 1917 Cast bronze The figure of Eve was originally intended, with its pendant sculpture, Adam, to flank Rodin’s Gates of Hell. This was a huge portal inspired by Dante’s Inferno, on which the sculptor worked intermittently from 1880 until his death. Rodin’s Eve is represented as distraught, following her expulsion from Paradise, having gained the knowledge of original sin. Athough partly inspired by Michaelangelo’s Eve from the Sistine ceiling in Rome, Rodin’s figure, with its huddled, inward-focussed pose, is a stark expression of individual suffering and regret. The Art Gallery Committee commissioned this cast, following a visit to the artist’s studio in 1911. Purchased 1911.110