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Head of Sorrow

Founder Cast by Georges Rudier French
modeled 1882, cast 1963
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 800
This androgynous head expresses in equal parts yearning, disturbance, vulnerability, and pain. Its ambiguity allowed Rodin to merge the head with different bodies to produce male and female figures. In smaller scale and combined with other elements, Head of Sorrow appears four times in The Gates of Hell. Rodin may have felt that its repetition infused the doors with a sense of coherence or collective grief.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Head of Sorrow
  • Artist: Auguste Rodin (French, Paris 1840–1917 Meudon)
  • Founder: Cast by Georges Rudier (French)
  • Date: modeled 1882, cast 1963
  • Culture: French
  • Medium: Bronze, black marble base
  • Dimensions: Overall (without base, wt. confirmed): 9 × 9 × 10 1/2 in., 11.8 lb. (22.9 × 22.9 × 26.7 cm, 5.4 kg);
    Weight on marble base, confirmed: 33.2 lb. (15.1 kg)
  • Classification: Sculpture-Bronze
  • Credit Line: Gift from B. Gerald Cantor Collection, 1985
  • Object Number: 1985.386
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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Young woman, Auguste Rodin French, Cast plaster, French
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Study of a hand, Auguste Rodin French, Cast plaster, French
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Bust of Bellona, Auguste Rodin French, Drypoint, third state of 3
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