Rodin, the father of modern sculpture, with his ability to express mass filled with vitality and his radical sense of design, roused much argument while opening up new terrain. The Faunesse that is the subject of this work is a forest sprite who follows the Faun in Roman mythology. An upright figure of a Faunesse can be seen above the door on the right in the Gates of Hell, which Rodin began creating in 1880. This stand-alone marble sculpture’s pose, the face looking down, suggests shyness, but her strong body is full of life, as though she has just sprung from the rock, in a style characteristic of Rodin.