Rodin Works: The Danaid |
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Additionally, Mary Levkoff points to the ancient sacramental ceremony of pouring water at the marriage; as a further association with the water theme, she mentions that Danaos was skillful at digging wells - an important quality in Argos where drinkable water was precious.
Aida Audeh beliefs that Canto XXII of Dante´s Inferno
provides us with the origin of the Danaid character: immersed in a
boiling pitch of tar, the sinners momentarily rise over the surface,
showing their curved backs like dolphins. I do not see a stringent
connection, however, between these barrators (swindlers in public
office) and the traitorous brides.
Although Georges Grappe claimed that a - possible preliminary - version of
'The Danaid' named 'Andomeda'
was meant to be part of 'The Gates of Hell',
Whereas the back of 'Andromeda'
runs nearly parallel to the ground plane, 'The Danaid' has her body tilted to the left, the hips leaning to an edge of the rock that
looks as if extra designed for this support. Because of this additional slant, the arc of the torso's dexter half looks
dramatically stretched; the line from shoulder blade over rib cage down to the accentuated hip bone makes up for a highly differentiated lateral profile. Simultaneously, the right
buttock is lifted, revealing the cleavage between the girl's legs to the
spectator. While
Rodin's sculpture is supposed to show the punished maiden exhausted and frustrated
by her senseless duty, The
'Danaid' was for the first time exhibited as an autonomous work in the
Gallery Georges Petit in 1889 and submitted to the Salon of 1890. Here, it
was purchased for the Musée du Luxembourg.
Another marble example ist found in Finland, in the Finnish National Gallery (dimensions given as 32 cm x 45 cm x 67 cm). Like in the case of 'Fallen Angel', the marble versions have been used to create bronze casts. |
Rodin's 'Danaid' is an adaption of the Greek myth of the 50 daughters of King Danaos of
Argos, the Danaids. To reconcile with his brother Danaos, Aegyptos, father of
50 sons, proposed his sons would marry to Danaos's daughters. Although
Danaos seemingly agreed with the wedding, he instructed the brides to
murder their bridegrooms during the wedding night, and all except
one stabbed their husbands. As a penalty, the Danaids were forced to fill
their jugs with water in the Hades; since these urns were perforated, their
efforts were condemned to be in vain - another variation of the Sisyphus
and Prometheus theme, whose penalties also were characterised by endless
repetition.
its purported presence in this monumental composition remains without
evidence.
Unproven remains also Monique Laurent's thesis that Camille Claudel was
Rodin's model for these sculptures
, although Elsen fancies Tancock's speculation that Rodin derived his
subject from a fatigued studio model that had rested herself in this
position.
Merging fact and fiction, Bruno Nuytten's movie 'Camille Claudel' with Isabelle Adjani
as Rodin's counterpart shows an exhausted
Camille kneeling on the floor leaning over against a piece of furniture.
the water running from the vessel clenched under
her right arm, the grace and sensuality of her curved back and outstretched
bottom contain an outspoken erotic message, contrasted by the
innocence of a sleeping face: an ambiguity
typical of many Rodin works. In this sense, 'The Danaid' and - to a lesser
extent - 
