A smaller version of 'The Danaid' was known under the title 'Andromeda', issued as a bronze version;
possibly, it represents a preliminary study.
There also
exists marble versions of 'Andromeda' (26 x 30 x 21 cm, Musée Rodin S. 811, and
Philadelphia Rodin Museum), which show the female figure with her back in
a horizontal position, instead of sloping down from the hips on. According to Musée
Rodin curator Georges Grappe, who established the first systematical
catalogue of the collection, this version was created in 1885 and
exhibited in the Gallery Georges Petit in 1886 under the title 'Bent in
Half'; in 1893, it was shown at the Chicago World's Fair.
According
to Elsen, the highly compact form of 'Andromeda's' compostion should be understood
from Rodin's preferred idea to position his work within an imagined cube,
as if to concentrate the power of his artistic statement to the highest
possible extent.
The title of 'Andromeda' refers to the daughter of the Ethiopian king Cepheus
who was married to Cassiopeia. As narrated by Appollodorus in his
'Bibliotheca' (2nd C. BC), the
princess was chained to a rock near the water to be sacrificed to a sea monster sent by
Poseidon, whose daughters - the Nereids - were jealous of Andromeda's
beauty. In the moment of highest peril, the maid was rescued by the
Greek hero Perseus.
Traditionally, the chained princess is shown standing or
sitting upright; Rodin shows the girl facing down, as if completely
exhausted, weeping, or even sleeping. Like in the case of 'The
Danaid', the association with the water theme is amplified by the
fluid lines of the back, the cheek and the hair.
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