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Image

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  • RISDM 23-005 v_01.tif
  • RISDM 23-005 v_05.tif
  • RISDM 23-005 v_03.tif
  • RISDM 23-005 v_02.tif
  • RISDM 23-005 v_04.tif
  • RISDM 23-005.tif

Auguste Rodin

The Hand of God
Now On View

Description

Maker

Auguste Rodin (French, 1840-1917)

Title

The Hand of God

Year

designed ca. 1898; carving completed ca. 1917

Medium

  • marble

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • marble

Materials

marble

Dimensions

100.3 x 82.6 x 68 cm (39 1/2 x 32 1/2 x 26 3/4 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signed, on base beneath thumb:A. Rodin

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Museum Appropriation Fund

Object Number

23.005

Type

  • Sculpture

Provenance

1916 or 1917-1923, Purchased from the artist by Samuel P. Colt; 1923, Purchased by (RISD Museum), Providence, RI

Projects & Publications

Publications

Pub_ID 641 European Paintings and Sculpture v_01.jpg
  • Books

European Paintings and Sculpture, ca. 1770 - 1937

Read Online ›
Pub_ID 1805 Selected Works v_01.jpg
  • Books

Selected Works

Read Online ›

Articles

Hand of the Maker
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Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Intermission
Dec 16, 2016 – Jul 02, 2017

Label copy

The hand emerging from this block of rough-hewn marble represents the hand of God forming Adam and Eve. Its scale and energy contrast dramatically with the delicate bodies intertwined in a primal embrace, connecting Rodin’s interests in realism and symbolism. While evoking the act of a divine creator, Rodin also suggests his own identity as an artist and worker whose hand models life from stone.

One of three known marble versions, this work was purchased directly from Rodin by the Rhode Island industrialist and politician Samuel P. Colt and acquired by the Museum after Colt’s death.

Carvings, Casts, & Replicas
Nineteenth-Century Sculpture from Europe & America in New England Collections
Feb 10, 1995 – Apr 23, 1995
European Painting and Sculpture, circa 1770-1937
Oct 18, 1991 – Jan 26, 1992

Use & Feedback

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Auguste Rodin (French, 1840-1917)
The Hand of God, designed ca. 1898; carving completed ca. 1917
Marble
100.3 x 82.6 x 68 cm (39 1/2 x 32 1/2 x 26 3/4 inches)
Museum Appropriation Fund 23.005

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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