old women's head 1890

One of the clearest themes throughout Claudel's works is her interest in old bodies and old age, especially the ways in which elderly women are treated, depicted and understood. Her stunning Old Woman's Head (c.1890), which will go into the Musée d'Orsay's permanent collection, portrays an octogenarian Italian woman, Maria Caira, who also modeled for Rodin. Made entirely of plaster, Claudel's sculpture details Caira's sunken eyes, over-sized ears, bulbous nose and wrinkled face with the same respect and careful detail as she applied to one of her first and youngest creations, Diana (c.1881) which depicts the young face of the Roman huntress, raised on a plaster pedestal with her features styled as if she were a head of state or queen. In doing so – and thanks to the museum's decision to immediately juxtapose the two – Claudel draws attention not so much to Caira's age and her according features but more to her power and dignity.