The Hand of God

Here, Rodin makes extraordinary use, both technical and allegorical, of the medium of marble. The material plays a key role in the sculpture, especially the underworked and roughly chiseled portions. A variation on the theme of birth and beginnings, the work presents Adam and Eve entwined in a fetal position and emerging from an amorphous mound of marble cradled in God’s hand. During a seminal trip to Italy in 1876, Rodin had encountered works by Michelangelo in which the figures similarly materialize out of rough stone, symbolizing the process of artistic creation itself.