La Méditerranée

The artist uses a voluptuous and vigorous woman as a metaphor for the rich history and fertility of the Mediterranean Sea. It seems that she is in meditation at the seaside, sitting tranquilly, with her head lowered and legs crossed. And the composition creates an aesthetic sense of serenity and vitality. Most figures in Maillol’s works are naked women captured at a given moment. As in his view, “there should be as little movement as possible in a sculpture,” because formal beauty is not the content of his expression – those calm and refrained female bodies comprise of infinite energy, indicating bright hopes and endless possibilities, which highlight the rich philosophical meanings and metaphorical references of his works.