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The Golden Age

1871–78
Not on view
Although Rodin rarely made drawings with this level of finish in preparation for his sculptural projects, the staging of the figural group on a pedestal-like platform suggests a close relationship with sculpture. It is similar in style to the decorative sculptures he made in the 1870s while working in the Paris and Brussels studios of Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse. The title refers to the first of the successive ages of humanity according to Greek mythology—a time of youthfulness and harmony in contrast to the violent Age of Bronze, the subject of Rodin’s first important full-length sculpture.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Golden Age
  • Artist: Auguste Rodin (French, Paris 1840–1917 Meudon)
  • Date: 1871–78
  • Medium: Black chalk heightened with white on faded blue paper
  • Dimensions: 18 7/16 x 12 in. (46.8 x 30.4 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1963
  • Object Number: 63.92.3
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
Adam, Auguste Rodin French, Bronze, French, Paris
Adam
Auguste Rodin
modeled 1880 or 1881, cast 1910
Ceramic Horn, Glazed pottery, French
Ceramic Horn
French
late 18th or early 19th century
Head of a Young Woman, Albrecht Dürer German, Black chalk highlighted with white chalk (abraded) on green prepared paper.
Head of a Young Woman
Albrecht Dürer
1522
Honoré de Balzac, Auguste Rodin French, Terracotta, French
Honoré de Balzac
Auguste Rodin
1891
Édouard Manet, Seated, Holding His Hat, Edgar Degas French, Graphite and black chalk
Édouard Manet, Seated, Holding His Hat
Edgar Degas
Sitter Edouard Manet
ca. 1868

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