Although Rodin often changed his sculptures' titles to suit hispurposes and moods, the title for this piece was fixed early on and refers to the main character of the balad "Regrets of the Helmet-Maker's Beautiful Wife" by the French medieval poet Francois Villion.
.
In a meditation on aging and lost beauty, Villon writes "Seeing what I am no longer, / Poor, dry, meager, worn away, / I almost forgot myself in anger." In Rodin's interpretation, the slumped posture and apparent resignation of the figure is belied by the vigorous splayed hand that resists the passage of time.
|
