Thursday, November 21, 2013
How Rodin Turned Early Neurology into Modern Sculpture
When we look at the sculpture of Auguste Rodin,
we can’t help but feel what his figures feel. Every inch of those
sculpted bodies “speaks” the language of passion, whether it be of joy,
love, yearning, or anguish. In a recent study of Rodin’s The Gates of Hell, art historian Natasha Ruiz-Gómez of the University of Essex links the figures found on those monumental doors (such as Rodin’s Damned Woman; shown above) to images from the work of Jean-Martin Charcot, one of the founders of modern neurology and one of the fathers of the malady known as hysteria.
When Rodin looked for a way to break away from the tired tropes of
classical sculpture, Ruiz-Gómez suggests, he turned to modern medicine,
especially Charcot’s work, which linked psychological and physical
states in a way that showed Rodin how to make people see what others
feel. By linking art and science, this study opens a new door into
Rodin’s art as well as why that art still captures our imagination
today. Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "How Rodin Turned Early Neurology into Modern Sculpture."
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