Fugitive Love

myminifactory

This 3D scan showcases the Cantor Foundation's Fugitive Love statue from the Portland Art Museum's "Auguste Rodin: The Human Experience" exhibition currently on display through April 2017 at the Portland Art Museum. A small ensemble that initially appeared in La Porte de l'Enfer (The Gates of Hell), commissioned in 1880, represented Rodin's most ambitious project to date. The sculptor chose to depict Dante's L'Enfer (Inferno), inhabited by tormented souls of the damned. He worked on it for at least twenty years without completing it. This massive work featuring one hundred and eighty-six figures served as a 'reservoir' for Rodin, allowing him to draw inspiration for future compositions. After modeling some figures in clay, the sculptor would take a plaster mold and transform them by removing or adding limbs using fresh plaster. By enlarging these figures from La Porte de l'Enfer, Rodin created successful models that led to the development of Ugolin and the Penseur (The Thinker). Rodin's technique of adding, subtracting, or multiplying allowed him to create commercially viable models. Fugit Amor consists of two bodies: a man and a woman acrobatically clinging to each other as if being pulled by opposing forces. Originally situated on the right panel of La Porte de l'Enfer, this group rapidly gained an independent existence. It was sometimes cast in bronze or carved in marble. Even at this size, perfectly suited for a collector's room, the work exudes emotional tension, symbolizing the insurmountable challenges faced by lovers.