Handcrafted bronze sculpture “Baigneuse” (1880) by Auguste Rodin, museum replica

François-Auguste-René Rodin is considered a brilliant innovator of sculpture and, alongside Praxiteles, Michelangelo, Cellini, and Canova, ranks among the greatest sculptors of all time. His sculptural output is so extensive that a complete catalogue of his works has yet to be published. It would certainly comprise several hundred pages. Rodin studied at the School of Applied Arts, having been rejected three times by the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Rodin was a fervent admirer of beauty. He was most captivated by the human body, which he repeatedly immortalized in its "vérité fugitive," in the fleeting moment: vibrant, pulsating beauty that took on an imperishable form under his creative hands. Whatever Rodin created with his hands radiates tremendous vitality and untamed power.