The donor of the sculpture of Auguste Rodin "the Man with the snake" (1887) did not want to disclose his name in the media

the Museum of fine arts in Lausanne gave unique valuable sculpture of Auguste Rodin "the Man with the snake" (1887), which were not displayed to the public for over a century. The donor did not wish to disclose his name in SMI@

Is small, a height of 70 cm and a width of 55 cm, the work depicts a man who is struggling with a huge snake wrapped around his arms and chest. Rodin created it during the preparation of his epic creations "Gates of Hell" (1880-1890) — sculptured portal for the Museum of decorative arts in Paris. Rodin did not meet that deadline, the Museum was never built, but the portal remained unfinished (was first cast after the sculptor's death). One of the preparatory sculpture, "Man with a snake", drew attention only recently, when the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown (mA) showed her plaster cast. Moreover, it was the Museum in Lausanne to receive a gift bronze versio@

As reported by the newspaper L'express, the first owner of this small bronze sculpture was Anthony Roux (Antoni Roux), collector from Marseille, moved to Paris. In 1885 he first saw "a Man with a snake" in a plaster version in Rodin's Studio. Further, in 1887 he bought for 2000 francs Rodin's sculpture in bronze, as well as exclusive rights to this sculptural group. As he wrote to Rodin on January 28, 1887, "you still have the right to use the figure of this man, but making her posture change and without snakes." Rodin accepted these conditions, therefore, the work and preserved in bronze in a single esemplare@

After the death of Anthony Roux in 1914 "the Man with the snake" resold to another collection and since then never vistavlali@

Museum of fine arts in Lausanne has in its collection three more works by Rodin — "the Thinker" (1902), "the Kiss" (1882-1889) and sculpted a bust of Victor Hugo. Museum Director Bernard Fibicher (Bernard Fibicher) said that the gift was not accompanied by any supplementary agreement on where and when to show it, etc. he Also stressed that the work will never appear on the open market. Next October, "the Man with the snake" will provide a temporary exhibition at the Rodin Museum in Paris dedicated to the "Gates of Hell".

the Material was prepared by Maria Onuchin, AI

Sources: artnet.com, artinvestment.ru