Study for Galatea 1885 - 1912

This is Auguste Rodin’s plaster sculpture, *Study for Galatea*, which can be found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Rodin lived and worked in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century France, a time when the representation of women in art was heavily influenced by classical mythology and male perspectives. Here, Galatea, a sea nymph from Greek mythology, is captured with a raw, unfinished quality. The sculpture's incomplete form, marked by the absence of limbs, challenges traditional ideals of feminine beauty and wholeness, inviting us to consider the fragmented nature of identity and representation. Rodin's choice of plaster, a medium often used for preliminary studies, adds to the sense of immediacy. Rodin once stated, "I choose a block of marble and chop off whatever I don't need." This subtractive approach reflects a desire to reveal the essential form within the material, mirroring the way identity is shaped through lived experience. *Study for Galatea* compels us to reflect on the power dynamics inherent in the act of creation and interpretation.