Assemblage: Female Torso with the Head of a Woman with a Chignon and Coiled Snake

From the 1890s onwards, Rodin’s passion for antiquities led him to build up a collection of ancient or more recent objects from various parts of the world. He drew artistic inspiration from the pieces in his collection and sometimes incorporated them into his own works, as is the case with this assemblage. The coiled black ceramic rattlesnake is of South American origin―a modern copy or a Mexican-inspired artifact.

The snake, whose lower jaw is missing, is coiled around a plaster female torso to which Rodin added a right arm and the head of a young woman with a chignon. He then dipped the sculpture in liquid plaster before fitting it inside the serpent’s coils. Through assemblage, Rodin thus created a new work inspired by his own visual repertory and by the objects with which he surrounded himself.

The artwork in the museum

Permanent collections - first floor, Room 14

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