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Pygmalion and Galatea

modeled 1889, carved ca. 1908–9
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 800
According to classical mythology, the sculptor Pygmalion so desired a marble woman he had carved that Venus, the goddess of love, granted her life. Rodin depicts the statue of Galatea quickening at the sculptor’s touch, her glowing body emerging from unfinished stone. Yet this Pygmalion is not the handsome youth of tradition, but rather a stocky, bearded man resembling Rodin, whose name is prominently inscribed next to the mythical sculptor’s on the side of the base. In his quest to endow his figures with living force, Rodin regarded himself as a modern Pygmalion.

Pygmalion and Galatea is one of six Rodin marbles that came to The Met in 1910 through Thomas Fortune Ryan.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Pygmalion and Galatea
  • Artist: Auguste Rodin (French, Paris 1840–1917 Meudon)
  • Date: modeled 1889, carved ca. 1908–9
  • Culture: French
  • Medium: Marble
  • Dimensions: Overall (wt. confirmed): 38 1/4 × 35 × 30 in., 1068 lb. (97.2 × 88.9 × 76.2 cm, 484.4 kg)
  • Classification: Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Gift of Thomas F. Ryan, in memory of William M. Laffan, 1910
  • Object Number: 10.31
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

More Artwork

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Study for Galatea, Auguste Rodin French, Cast plaster, French
Study for Galatea
Auguste Rodin
modeled ca. 1889, cast before 1912
Young woman, Auguste Rodin French, Cast plaster, French
Young woman
Auguste Rodin
modeled probably before 1889, cast before 1912
Study of a hand, Auguste Rodin French, Cast plaster, French
Study of a hand
Auguste Rodin
last quarter 19th–early 20th century
Study of a hand, Auguste Rodin French, Cast plaster, French
Study of a hand
Auguste Rodin
20th century
Bust of Bellona, Auguste Rodin French, Drypoint, third state of three, before bevelled plate
Bust of Bellona
Auguste Rodin
1882–85

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