L'Age d'airain
After his demobilisation in January 1871, Rodin returned to Brussels. He lived there for six years since the burgomasters offered work. In 1876 he made a pilgrimage to Italy, discovering Florence, the San Lorenzo Chapel and Rome. Michelangelo, whom he admired above all, "let him in on a few of his secrets"
When he returned to Brussels, Rodin continued work on a male nude which had kept him occupied since October 1875. In January 1877, the plaster model was exhibited in the Artistic and Literary Circle of Brussels. But an article in L'Etoile belge claimed that it had been cast from a live model. This accusation haunted Rodin when he submitted his figure for the Paris Salon under the title The Bronze Age. In his defence, he offered to show the jury photographs and casts. His Belgian sculptor friends rallied round and Gustave Biot wrote, "I find it strange that a certificate such as you have asked me to provide could be needed in Paris, but it is a pleasure and duty for me to give it to you."Despite the appointment of a Director of Fine Arts, Edmund Turquet, who was more sympathetic to Rodin, the inspection committee, sent in February 1880, refused to allow this model to be cast in bronze. So a number of well-known sculptors then stepped in—Dubois, Falguière, Carrier-Belleuse, Chapu, Chaplain, Thomas, Delaplanche—insisting that the sculptor's skill in improvising from memory, "his energy and extraordinarily powerful modelling" proved that he had executed The Bronze Age without cheating.
Turquet was convinced, bought the plaster cast and ordered the bronze from the Thiébaut brothers' foundry. That copy, now in the Musée d'Orsay, was exhibited at the Salon of 1880 at which Rodin was awarded a third class medal. The Bronze Age enjoyed instant international success.
sur la plinthe à d. : Rodin
sur la plinthe à g. : Thiébaut frères Fondeurs
- 1880, acquis après commande par le Service d'achat aux artistes vivants (commandé à la fonderie Thiébaut frères pour 2200F, arrêté du 26/05/1880)
- à partir de 1880, au Dépôt des marbres (20/10/1880)
- 1884, attribué au musée du Luxembourg "pour les pelouses" (arrêté du 22/11/1884)
- en 1885, placé au jardin du Luxembourg (janvier)
- en 1901, au musée du Luxembourg
- attribué au musée du Louvre
- en 1933, au musée du Louvre (mars)
- de 1947 à 1952, au musée du Louvre, galerie du Jeu de Paume
- 1986, affecté au musée d'Orsay
- Salon de la Société des artistes français - palais des Champs Elysées - France, Paris, 1880, n° 6640 (médaille de 3e classe)
- Salon de 1880 - XXXIe exposition internationale de Gand - casino - Belgique, Gand, 1880, n° 1247 (médaille d'or)
- Exposition internationale des Beaux-Arts - Künstlerhaus - Autriche, Vienne, 1882, n° 225
- Exposition nationale des Beaux-Arts - palais des Champs Elysées - France, Paris, 1883, n° 1667
- [sans titre] - Royal Academy of Arts - Royaume-Uni, Londres, 1884, n° 1667
- Exposition Universelle - Champ-de-Mars - France, Paris, 1889, n° 2127
- Centenaire de la fondation des Artistes français - ville - France, Paris, 1932, (cet exemplaire ?)
- From Courbet to Cézanne, a new 19th century - Preview of the Musée d'Orsay, Paris - Brooklyn Museum - Etats-Unis, New York, 1986
- From Courbet to Cézanne, a new 19th century - Preview of the Musée d'Orsay, Paris - Dallas Museum of Art - Etats-Unis, Dallas, 1986
- Paris-Bruxelles/Bruxelles-Paris - Galeries nationales du Grand Palais - France, Paris, 1997, n° 128
- Paris-Bruxelles/Bruxelles-Paris - musée des Beaux-Arts - Belgique, Gand, 1997, n° 128
- A fleur de peau. Le moulage sur nature au XIXe siècle - musée d'Orsay - France, Paris, 2001-2002
- Second Skin: Historical Life Casting and contemporary Culture - Henry Moore Institute - Royaume-Uni, Leeds, 2002
- Hautnah. Die Abformung des Lebens - Hamburger Kunsthalle - Allemagne, Hambourg, 2002
- A fleur de peau. Le moulage sur nature au XIXe siècle - Museo Vincenze Vela - Suisse, Ligornetto, 2002
- Chefs-d'oeuvre du musée d'Orsay pour le 150e anniversaire de la galerie Tretyakov - The State Tretyakov Gallery - Russie, Fédération de, Moscou, 2006, p. 122-123
- Créativité. Exposition universelle de Shangaï - Pavillon France - Chine, Shanghai, 2010
- La Rivoluzione dello sguardo. Capolavori impressionisti e post-impressionisti dal Musée d'Orsay - Museo d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto - Italie, Rovereto, 2011
- Masculin / Masculin. L'homme nu dans l'art de 1800 à nos jours - musée d'Orsay - France, Paris, 2013-2014, n°112
- El hombre al desnudo. Dimensiones de la masculinidad a partir de 1800 - Museo Nacional de Arte - Mexique, Mexico, 2014, n°112
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Bénédite, Léonce, Catalogue sommaire des peintures et sculptures de l'Ecole contemporaine exposées dans les galeries du Musée national du Luxembourg, Paris, G. Braun, 1914, n° 925
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Lami, Stanislas, Dictionnaire des sculpteurs de l'Ecole française au XIXe siècle. T. IV. N-Z, Paris, E. Champion, 1921, p. 165
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Tancock, John L., The Sculpture of Auguste Rodin : the collection of the Rodin museum, Philadelphie, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1976, n° 64, p. 342-356
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Caso, Jacques de ; Sanders, Patricia B., Rodin's Sculpture. A Critical Study of the Spreckels Collection, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1977
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Beausire, Alain, Quand Rodin exposait, Paris, Musée Rodin, 1988, 22, 36, 60, 65-67, 73, 74, 77, 82, 87, 91, 96, 100, 135, 146, 147, 158, 185, 188, 200, 208, 211, 212, 215, 228, 245, 253, 255, 257, 287, 303, 314, 317, 321, 340
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Pingeot, Anne, 48/14 La revue du Musée d'Orsay, "Rodin au musée du Luxembourg", Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 2000, p. 64-77 reprod.
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Cogeval, Guy ; Burillo, Pablo Jiménez ; Mathieu, Caroline, Impressionismo. Paris e a modernidade. Obras primas Musée d'Orsay, [Mostra, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, 04/08/2012 - 07/10/2012], Madrid, Fundacion Mapfre, 2012, fig.4 p.21
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(dir.) Cogeval, Guy, Le Musée d'Orsay à 360 degrés, Paris, Skira ; Flammarion ; Musée d'Orsay, 2013, p. 157, texte par Ophélie Ferlier
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Cogeval, Guy, From Courbet to Cézanne : A New 19th Century : Preview of the Musée d'Orsay, Paris, cat. Exp. (Paris, musée d'Orsay, à Brooklyn, Museum of Art et à Dallas, Museum of Art), Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 1986, n° 18
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Le Normand-Romain, Antoinette, Vers l'Age d'airain. Rodin en Belgique, cat. exp. (Paris, Musée Rodin, 18 mars - 15 juin 1997), Paris, Musée Rodin, 1997
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Cogeval, Guy ; Cahn, Isabelle, La Rivoluzione dello sguardo. Impressionismo e postimpressionismo dal Musée d'Orsay, cat. exp. (Rovereto, Museo d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, du 19 mars au 24 juillet 2011), Milan, Silvana, 2011, n° 57
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Pingeot, Anne ; Le Normand-Romain, Antoinette ; Margerie, Laure de, Musée d'Orsay. Catalogue sommaire illustré des sculptures, Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 1986, p.232
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