One of the Danaides

Dr H.F. Antell, a Finnish art collector living in Paris, commissioned the first marble version of the sculpture Danaides, designed in 1885. This was to have been part of Les portes d'enfer commissioned by the French government in 1880 but never completed. Auguste Rodin is considered the most important sculptor of the late 19th century. He always worked from a live model, but was also capable of a masterly depiction of states of mind. This work is based on the ancient tale of the 50 daughters of King Danaus, who on their wedding night had killed the 50 sons of Aegyptus except for one. For their sins the Danaides were condemned to scoop water from the Underworld river with a leaking jar, forever. The sculpture shows an erotically depicted woman, resting exhausted by her jar.