Perseus and the Gorgon

Perseus and the Gorgon is the final sculpture by Camille Claudel. The sculpture has been revered as a work of art by one of the first French female sculptors, and is classified as a work of French cultural heritage. The sculpture was carved from marble and stands at 196cm high, 111cm long, and 90cm wide.

It was purchased in 2008 by the Musée Paul Dubois-Alfred Boucher, a museum located in Nogent-sur-Seine, Claudel's home town approximately 100km southeast of Paris. In 2017, the Musée Camille Claudel, which is devoted to the work of Claudel, was officially opened. The piece is currently on display to the general public at the Musée Camille Claudel, along with other sculptures by Claudel.

Commission

In 1897 Claudel envisioned Perseus and the Gorgon, and by 1899 a plaster version was exhibited at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. Countess Arthur de Maigret commissioned a copy in marble. Claudel, however, did not carve the marble version of the sculpture; rather the task was entrusted to Francois Pompon, despite Claudel being trained in direct carving. Pompon captured every detail to perfection; and unfortunately, in 1912 the original plaster cast was destroyed by Claudel. After four years, in 1902, the completed marble version was presented at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, and was correspondingly installed in the Parisian mansion of Arthur de Maigret.

Interpretation

The sculpture depicts the famous scene from the Ancient Greek fable of Medusa, whereby the hero, Perseus, beheads Medusa and uses his bronze shield as a mirror to avoid the Gorgon's petrifying gaze, which turns men into stone. The bronze shield itself is missing from the sculpture, with only the marble handle present in the hand of Perseus. The sculpture was designed to represent the end of Claudel's career and her disassociation with Auguste Rodin. To express this, the Gorgon is a self-portrait of Claudel, encompassing her facial features. This scene specifically represents the downfall of a once powerful and respected individual, and the sculpture is an accurate depiction Claudel's personal circumstances.

For years, the sculptures of Claudel have been overshadowed by those of her colleagues, Auguste Rodin, Paul Dubois, and Alfred Boucher. In a sense, Claudel had acknowledged her end, despite being respected by her colleagues as a sculptor, and her career as an artist was dead. Perseus and the Gorgon is the only large marble sculpture created by Claudel, and, along with Claudel's other surviving sculptures, was carved in the style of the Cinquecento, recalling the peak of classic renaissance art. Artists of the late 1800s sought inspiration from Cinquecento Italian art, including Claudel's colleagues, Boucher and Dubois.