Rodin Works: Andromeda, Bent in half |
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According to Elsen, the highly compact form of 'Andromeda's' compostion should be understood from Rodin's preferred idea to position his work within an imagined cube, as if to concentrate the power of his artistic statement to the highest possible extent.
Traditionally, the chained princess is shown standing or sitting upright; Rodin shows the girl facing down, as if completely exhausted, weeping, or even sleeping. Like in the case of 'The Danaid', the association with the water theme is amplified by the fluid lines of the back, the cheek and the hair.
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There also
exists marble versions of 'Andromeda' (26 x 30 x 21 cm, Musée Rodin S. 811, and
Philadelphia Rodin Museum), which show the female figure with her back in
a horizontal position, instead of sloping down from the hips on. According to Musée
Rodin curator Georges Grappe, who established the first systematical 
catalogue of the collection, this version was created in 1885 and
exhibited in the Gallery Georges Petit in 1886 under the title 'Bent in
Half'; in 1893, it was shown at the Chicago World's Fair.
The title of 'Andromeda' refers to the daughter of the Ethiopian king Cepheus
who was married to Cassiopeia. As narrated by Appollodorus in his
'Bibliotheca' (2nd C. BC), the
princess was chained to a rock near the water to be
sacrificed to a sea monster sent by
Poseidon, whose daughters - the Nereids - were jealous of Andromeda's
beauty. In the moment of highest peril, the maid was rescued by the
Greek hero Perseus.
