First Model for the Georges Rodenbach Memorial, ca. 1899

In memory of the French-speaking Ghent poet Georges Rodenbach, who died in 1898, George Minne designed a commemorative monument by order of the Société des Artistes et Ecrivains Français. The Rodenbach memorial initially bore the title Bruges-la-Morte, after the poet's novel of the same name. The final version can be found in the Great Beguinage in Ghent. The plaster design from 1899 shown here comes from the collection of the symbolist poet and art critic Karel van de Woestijne. It shows a reclining female figure who seems to be slowly rising above the earth in which she lies. The modesty and simplified, purified form language is in keeping with Fountain with Kneeling Youths (inv. 1982-E).