Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History


    • Orpheus and Eurydice, probably modeled before 1887, executed 1893
    Auguste Rodin (French, 1840–1917)
    Marble; H. 50 in. (127 cm)
    Gift of Thomas F. Ryan, 1910 (10.63.2)

    Originally modeled for The Gates of Hell, where it was apparently intended to illustrate a poem from Baudelaire's The Flowers of Evil, this group was abandoned in the final version of The Gates. Rodin gave it a second existence with a title inspired by a story from Ovid's Metamorphoses. The body of Eurydice is recognizable as that of one of the anguished figures that occupy the lintel of The Gates on the left of the Thinker, and it exemplifies Rodin's propensity for exploring the multiple interpretations that a single form can be made to yield. This marble was purchased by Charles T. Yerkes about 1893, beginning what would prove to be more than a century of private collecting of Rodin's sculpture in America.

    This work of art also appears on Connections: Opera

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    This work has been published in the Museum's Bulletin or Journal. These articles may or may not represent the most current scholarship.
  • Vincent, Clare "Rodin at The Metropolitan Museum of Art: A History of the Collection." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 38, no. 4 (Spring, 1981).
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    • Orpheus and Eurydice, probably modeled before 1887, executed 1893
    Auguste Rodin (French, 1840–1917)
    Marble; H. 50 in. (127 cm)
    Gift of Thomas F. Ryan, 1910 (10.63.2)

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