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Lot Essay
One of the most tragic subjects in Rodin's oeuvre is the Danaïde. The Danaïdes were the fifty daughters of Danaus, King of Argos, who were married against their will to the fifty sons of Aegyptus. On their wedding night all, except Hypermestra, killed their bridegrooms. According to Ovid's version of the myth, the Danaïdes were forced to draw water from leaking vessels in Hades as punishment. Closely related to Andromeda, also executed in 1885, Danaïde was originally intended for La Port de l'Enfer, but was not incorporated into the final version.
Danaïde is a powerful and erotic figural composition; her tightly coiled position heightened the sensuous curves of her body which seem to melt into the rocky surface. Rodin aptly captures the Danaïdes' moment of despair and loneliness, her body limp and exhausted by her futile task. Rodin takes care to contrast the surface textures: the smooth surface of her body stands out from the unfinished, craggy surface of the rock-like base. The treatment of her long hair imitates the flowing water from the vessels on the other side of the sculpture.
Danaïde is a powerful and erotic figural composition; her tightly coiled position heightened the sensuous curves of her body which seem to melt into the rocky surface. Rodin aptly captures the Danaïdes' moment of despair and loneliness, her body limp and exhausted by her futile task. Rodin takes care to contrast the surface textures: the smooth surface of her body stands out from the unfinished, craggy surface of the rock-like base. The treatment of her long hair imitates the flowing water from the vessels on the other side of the sculpture.