French sculpture following the Franco-Prussian War, 1870-80: realist allegories and the commemoration of defeat

Inhoud

The hermaphroditic power of Jean-Alexandre-Joseph Falguière's Allegory of resistance -- The emperor's furrowed brow and the prostitute's imperious gaze : social degeneracy writ large -- Antonin Mercié's Gloria victis and the mollification of the French psyche -- The soldier's bandaged foot : state sponsorship of the image of defeat in the 1879 concours for the Monument to La Défense de Paris -- Auguste Rodin's The Age of bronze : commemoration stripped bare.