The Great Shadow, Bronze statue in Tuileries Garden, France
The Great Shadow is a bronze figure by Auguste Rodin set on a stone base along a gravel walk in the Tuileries Garden, in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. The standing nude, modelled in 1898, has a rough, worked surface and a dark patina that sets it against the pale gravel and clipped greenery of the garden.
The sculpture was created in 1898 during a period when Rodin pushed the boundaries of artistic form and expression. It reflects the sculptor's continued evolution and experimentation with new approaches to his craft.
The Great Shadow stands in the Tuileries, a garden that became a public sculpture ground after the palace was burned in 1871 and the ruins cleared. Rodin's bronze shares the grounds with works by Maillol, Giacometti and Dubuffet, installed from the 1960s onward. Visitors pass it on the gravel walks between the Carrousel and the Concorde.
The Great Shadow stands in the Tuileries Garden, in the 1st arrondissement, between the Louvre and Place de la Concorde. Enter from the Rue de Rivoli side or through the Carrousel garden; the sculpture is reached on foot along the garden's gravel paths. The ground is level and the paths are wide, so the work can be approached with a stroller or wheelchair.
Rodin's L'Ombre, cast in bronze and placed in the Tuileries, depicts a crouching female figure whose lowered head and drawn-back arm give the work its title. The original plaster was made around 1880 for The Gates of Hell, and the figure was later enlarged and cast in bronze for the garden.
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