Cast from a marble version (today in the Thyssen-Bornemisza
National Museum, Madrid), this spectacular plaster is one of
Rodin’s few explicitly religious works. Setting aside traditional
depictions of the Crucifixion, he arranged Christ and Mary
Magdalene in an erotically charged, quasi-mystical configuration.
The two figures were taken from previous works and collaged
together here, with the Magdalene embracing the crucified
Christ, their entwined bodies substituting for the shape of the
absent cross. Many artists in this period saw Christ’s suffering
as an analogue for the tortured creative life; an alternate title
for the work is The Genius and Pity.