Fallen Caryatid Carrying an Urn

Auguste Rodin French
 Founder Coubertin Foundry

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 800

Fallen Caryatid Carrying an Urn, originally titled Sorrow, was considered by Rodin and his contemporaries as among his best compositions. Unlike the standing caryatids (female support figures) of classical tradition, Rodin’s version folds into herself, compressed beneath the weight of the vessel she carries. In another large variant, the caryatid bears a massive rock that the poet Rainer Maria Rilke metaphorically described as the "burden . . . from which we can find no escape."

Fallen Caryatid Carrying an Urn, Auguste Rodin (French, Paris 1840–1917 Meudon), Bronze, French

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Fallen Caryatid Carrying an Urn, Auguste Rodin (French, Paris 1840–1917 Meudon), Bronze, French
Fallen Caryatid Carrying an Urn, Auguste Rodin (French, Paris 1840–1917 Meudon), Bronze, French
Fallen Caryatid Carrying an Urn, Auguste Rodin (French, Paris 1840–1917 Meudon), Bronze, French

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