c. 1885

Dawn: Return from the Sabbath

French, 1840 - 1917

During the early 1880s Rodin made numerous drawings such as this one on literary and mythological themes. Here, a rearing centaur carries off a struggling woman whom he has cast across his back. Rodin cut out the figures from one sheet and pasted them down on another, perhaps to reinforce the angular intensity of the outline. The sense of rapid movement and contorted struggle is reinforced by several slashes of watercolor added to the support sheet above the head of the centaur.