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Rodin Museum

Mask of the Man with the Broken Nose

Modeled 1863-1864; cast 1925
Auguste Rodin (French, 1840–1917) Cast by the founder Alexis Rudier, Paris (1874–1952)

Breaking with conventional notions of beauty, Rodin chose his model—a local workman named Bibi—for his clear-cut facial features and broken nose. The sculptor defended the roughness of this work as artistic beauty, investing the features with a dignity reminiscent of classical sculpture. Rodin considered Mask of the Man with the Broken Nose his first good piece of modeling and said it “determined all my future work.”


Object Details

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Rodin Museum