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Danaid

Danaid is a sculpture by French artist Auguste Rodin, conceived for his major project The Gates of Hell, though it was not included in the final version. The figure draws on literary sources such as Dante’s Divine Comedy, Baudelaire’s Flowers of Evil, and Ovid’s Metamorphoses, particularly the myth of Hypermnestra and the daughters of Danaus. Rodin presents a nude woman stretched across a rock, her tense body, exposed back, and falling hair suggesting remorse, humiliation, and eternal punishment. The water below recalls the endlessly empty vessels of the Danaids. Some scholars have suggested Camille Claudel may have modeled for the work, but this remains unverified and is rejected by the Rodin Museum’s research.

Rodin’s Danaid, a marble nude female figure bent over a rough stone base with her head resting against it.
Auguste Rodin’s Danaid shows a nude female figure folded over a rough rock base in marble.
© · Public domain
Rodin\'s Danaid sculpture showing a nude figure bent low over a rough base.
Auguste Rodin\'s Danaid, shown as a bowed nude figure resting on a textured base.
May 2024 © · CC BY-SA 4.0
Danaid by Auguste Rodin, a terracotta sculpture of a nude female figure bent forward against a rock-like base.
Auguste Rodin’s Danaid in terracotta, showing a nude figure bent forward against a textured base.
July 2019 © · CC BY-SA 4.0
Rodin’s Danaid sculpture showing a bent female figure pressed over a rocky base
Rodin’s Danaid, with the figure bent low against a rough base.
September 2015 © · CC BY-SA 4.0
Rodin\'s Danaid shown in a sepia-toned photograph, with a smooth human figure emerging from a rough textured base.
Auguste Rodin\'s Danaid photographed in sepia, showing the figure emerging from a rugged base.
1904 © · No restrictions

Identification

TitleDanaid
Alternative titleLa Danaïde; La Danaide; The Spring
TypeSculpture

Historical context

Date1889
Original conception date1885
Original conception contextOriginally conceived for The Gates of Hell
Inclusion in The Gates of HellNot included in the final version of The Gates of Hell
Related workThe Gates of Hell
Literary inspirationDante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy; Baudelaire's The Flowers of Evil; Ovid's Metamorphoses

Creator

ArtistAuguste Rodin
Artist nationalityFrench
Artist lifespan1840–1917

Discovery and provenance

Related figureAndromeda
Relation to Camille ClaudelRodin's student, collaborator, and romantic partner
Possible modelCamille Claudel may have served as the model, but this is unverified and rejected by the Rodin Museum's research

Materials

MaterialBronze
MaterialMarble

Technique

Marble version productionCarved in Rodin's atelier under Rodin's supervision by Jean Escoula
Bronze versionsFirst cast in 1891

Physical characteristics

Dimensions36 cm high, 71 cm wide, 53 cm deep
Current version typeMarble version

Appearance

Depicted subjectOne of the Danaids, the fifty daughters of King Danaus of Argos
Mythological backgroundThe Danaids were punished in the afterlife by endlessly filling leaking or bottomless vessels with water for killing their husbands on their wedding nights; Hypermnestra refused to kill her husband Lynceus

Iconography and meaning

IconographyThe sculpture does not follow the traditional iconography of the Danaid filling her jar
Body language and anatomyHer tense posture emphasizes the back, neck, torso, strained back muscles, and exposed vertebrae
Water motifThe escaping water suggests endless, futile punishment
Associated objectA jar beside her, with water flowing from it
HairHer long hair falls softly over her face and onto the ground
Depicted figureHypermestra, the eldest of the Danaids
Pose and expressionShe is shown collapsed from a kneeling position, fully nude on a rock, with her head resting on her arm as if in a great sob
InterpretationA repentant, sensual martyr undergoing eternal punishment

Style

StyleFantastic realism
Stylistic featureRodin emphasizes the line of the Danaid's back and nape
Facial treatmentThe face is deemphasized because Rodin believed the body is more expressive than the face
Visual similarityThe sculpture resembles the silhouette of Andromeda

Location and ownership

Current locationMusée Rodin, Paris
Other marble locationsMusée Rodin, Paris; Rodin Museum, Philadelphia; Brooklyn Museum
Bronze locationsCollections in France; Museo Soumaya, Mexico City
Modern reproduction locationPermanent collection of the Peoria Riverfront Museum, Peoria, Illinois, United States
Modern reproduction donorB. Gerald Cantor
Modern reproduction dedicationIn honor of Carlotta and Gary Bielfeldt
Modern reproduction gift date1987
Marble version presentationShown at the Salon in 1890
Related figure in The Gates of HellAndromeda is located at the top of the right leaf; the Danaid appears on each leaf and on the left as part of the Winged Genie falling
Marble version current locationMusée d'Orsay