L’enfant prodigue - Auguste Rodin
The statue is kneeling unevenly, its weight unstable. The hips are centered—not forward or backward. From the waist up, the body is curved backward: the waist slightly, and the chest more, and the neck and head completely, so that the eyes are looking just above. This curve occurs along a lateral angle toward the right, which is supported by the left leg and foot being turned out a bit. The arms are almost straightened. The statue’s left hand is clasped in almost a fist, its strength relaxed. The right hand is open with fingers slightly bent. The head looks up toward the heavens.
The New Testament subject is the parable of a son who spends his inheritance wastefully and extravagantly, and returns home to throw himself at his father’s feet and beg for forgiveness. The Musée Rodin describes the statue as “a sorrowful body with the irrepressible fervor of a final prayer.” I see immensity and ecstatic atonement in the position.