Iris messagère des dieux

A nude, headless female figure with no left arm energetically holds her right leg. She is dancing or stretching, entirely focused on her movement recalling that of a dancer. She offers herself, unashamedly letting her sexualised body be seen. The title of this sculpture by Auguste Rodin indicates that the woman is actually Iris, the gods’ messenger. This work combines mythology and realism without her legendary attributes.

Rodin made the earliest versions of this work to crown his monument to Victor Hugo. Later, he stripped the mythological figure of her attributes, leaving an athletic, sensual body. Rodin's sculptures depict movement, eroticism and pain. The cancan dancer is a prime example. Variations of this subject are found in his stock of plaster works used to create the bronzes.

Iris, Messenger of the Gods was shown for the first time by the Pinault Collection in 2015 during the exhibition "Slip of the Tongue" at the Punta della Dogana.