A Trace Left on Purpose: Torso of a Young Woman with Arched Back

Like many of Rodin's works, Torso of a Young Woman with Arched Back began as a piece intended for The Gates of Hell. Rodin set out to develop it into a large, standalone sculpture. But once the torso alone was finished, he apparently found that state more compelling and simply stopped there.

What this piece reveals, though, is a flash of Rodin's brilliance. Walk around to the back and look at the hips, and you'll notice fin-like protrusions on either side — remnants of where hands used to be attached. In other words, Rodin deliberately left those traces behind, as a way of showing that this wasn't an unfinished work but a deliberate, completed one.

The bronze was given a pale green patina, reportedly because similar pale-green tones appeared on ancient bronzes being excavated at the time, as well as in the ancient artifacts Rodin himself collected — a look that evidently appealed to him enough to choose it for this piece.