An Aging Body Shining with Wisdom: The Victor Hugo Monument

This sculpture is the monument to Victor Hugo. Four years after Hugo's death, in 1889, Rodin was commissioned to create this monument for the garden of the Palais-Royal, and completed it. Rodin was reportedly delighted to receive the commission, having long been a devoted admirer of Hugo — as mentioned when his bust of Hugo was introduced earlier, Hugo was, for Rodin, a figure he loved simply to look at.

The man in the sculpture is Victor Hugo himself. Hugo once spent time in exile on the British island of Guernsey, and this piece captures him during that period, lost in thought as he gazes out at the sea. Hugo's upper body is left bare, with only a light cloth draped over his lower half — a convention commonly used in ancient art for sculpting gods and heroes. What sets this piece apart, though, is that Hugo's body is rendered with unflinching realism as that of an old man, with sagging chest and a protruding belly. That choice was deliberate: growing older can also mean growing wiser, so Hugo's aging body can be read as a symbol of the wisdom accumulated over his lifetime. Behind him, the Muse of Tragedy appears, leaning in to whisper something into Hugo's ear.