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The Age of Bronze

Auguste Rodin1877 (model)

The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo

The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo
Tokyo, Japan

A plaster cast of this work entitled The Vanquished was displayed in the 1877 Cercle Artistique in Brussels, but later this work was given the name of Awakening or Man of the First Ages. After the golden and silver ages of the gods, the first pulsating movements of mankind in the bronze age is expressed in the awakening form of this young man. Paul Gsell saw this statue in Rodin's home in Meudon and said "The legs of this just awakened man have no strength and are still slack. But as the viewer looks up the body, we can see how clearly that form is defined. .... The first arousing movement of a person seen in the transformation from a half sleeping state to that of life." (Source: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2009, cat. no.126)

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  • Title: The Age of Bronze
  • Creator Lifespan: 1840 - 1917
  • Creator Nationality: French
  • Creator Gender: Male
  • Creator Death Place: Meudon
  • Creator Birth Place: Paris
  • Date Created: 1877 (model)
  • Location Created: France
  • Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings: Signed right top of base: Rodin; Foundry mark lower right back of base: .Alexis Rudier. / .Fondeur. PARIS.
  • Sculptor: Auguste Rodin
  • Provenance: Kojiro Matsukata; Sequestered by the French Government, 1944; Returned to Japan, 1959.
  • Physical Dimensions: w700 x h1810 x d660 mm
  • Object title (Japanese): 青銅時代
  • Object notes (Japanese): 1877年のブリュッセルの「芸術サークル」展にはこの彫刻の石膏像が《敗北者》という題で出品されたが、これは後に《目覚める人》あるいは《最初の人類》という名で呼ばれるように、神々の世界である黄金と白銀の時代を経て、人類がこの世に初めて生まれ出る青銅時代の最初の脈動が、覚めやらぬこの若者の姿をかりて表現されている。『ロダンの言葉』を編集したポール・グセルは、ムードンのロダン邸の中でこの像を見て「目覚めきらぬこの若者の脚は、いまだ力なく、そして殆どゆらめくばかりである。だが視線が昇って行くにつれて、その姿態がしっかりとしているのが見られる。……まさに行動を起こそうとする者の、半睡状態より生気への推移なのだ」と語っている。(出典: 国立西洋美術館名作選. 東京, 国立西洋美術館, 2006. cat. no. 126)
  • Artist Name (Japanese): ロダン、オーギュスト
  • Type: Sculptures
  • Rights: Matsukata Collection, http://www.nmwa.go.jp/en/information/privacy.html
  • External Link: The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo
  • Medium: Bronze
The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo

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