Auguste Rodin and Balzac, Approaching the Gates of Hell

Rodin’s radical statues — inspired by literature to change the trajectory of Modern sculpture

details of a bronze cast of ‘The Age of Bronze’ (1877) by Auguste Rodin. Images courtesy Jérome Manoukian, agence photographique du musée Rodin [view license]

Auguste Rodin’s controversial statue, known as L’Age d’airain / The Age of Bronze, had taken naturalistic realism to a skill-level rivalling the great sculptors of the classical era. It was intended as a poem in…