The Dying Centaur

Centaurs are mythical half-man, half-horse beasts. Here the wounded and almost collapsed form of a centaur is captured in that tense instant when he is freed from pain and at the same time, attached to life. A rough surface pitted with countless hollows reminds the viewer of the stone walls of ancient cathedrals, a concept not unrelated to Bourdelle's revival of sculptural arts that rival architecture. Bourdelle researched the monumental art forms for sculpture found in Gothic cathedrals."To all of my family, my cherished wife Cleopatra Sevestos and my beloved children Pierre and Rhodia, I dedicate the dying centaur, Emile-Antoine Bourdelle, 6th March 1914, Paris" is inscribed on the back of the harp. (Source: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2009, cat. no. 143)