Titans, Support for a Vase
c. 1877
Auguste Rodin
Auguste Rodin (French, 1840–1917)
Decorative Art and Design
Titans, Support for a Vase, c. 1877. Auguste Rodin (French, 1840–1917), probably by Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (French, 1824–1887). Glazed earthenware; overall: 37.5 x 38.1 x 38.1 cm (14 3/4 x 15 x 15 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1995.71 During his lifetime and afterward, Auguste Rodin was viewed as the modern equivalent to Michelangelo. Rodin worked against the prevailing styles of his time and may have seen parallels between his own struggles and Michelangelo’s reputation in the 1800s as a suffering genius. In 1875 Rodin went to Italy to study Renaissance art, specifically works by Michelangelo. The twisting titans (giants) on this pedestal base are directly inspired by Michelangelo’s ignudi (male nudes) on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Rodin did not directly copy the poses but translated the energy and movement of the nudes into new, three-dimensional forms.
- Maker/Artist
- Rodin, Auguste
- Classification
- Ceramic
- Formatted Medium
- glazed earthenware
- Medium
- glazed, earthenware
- Dimensions
- Overall: 37.5 x 38.1 x 38.1 cm (14 3/4 x 15 x 15 in.)
- Inscribed
- Inscription: incised near bottom of plinth: "A. CARRIERE-BELLEUSE."
- Departments
- Decorative Art and Design
- Accession Number
- 1995.71
- Credit Line
- Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
- Exhibitions
- Rodin and Michelangelo: A Study in Artistic Inspiration , Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art, Rodin-100 Years, Master/Apprentice: Imitation and Inspiration in the Renaissance
- Rights Statement
- CC0
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