Woman Bitten by a Serpent
Woman Bitten by a Serpent is an 1847 marble sculpture by Auguste Clésinger (1814–1883), now in the musée d'Orsay in Paris.

It was commissioned by the industrialist Alfred Mosselman and first exhibited in the Paris Salon in 1847, where it and Thomas Couture's "The Romans in their Decadence" were the most commented-upon works. Clésinger had modelled his work on a life-cast of Mossellman's mistress, the demi-mondaine Apollonie Sabatier (1822–1890), later Charles Baudelaire's muse. The direct use of a life cast as the basis for a sculpture was highly controversial in the 19th century, particularly in its realism, such as the reproduction of the model's cellulite. Clésinger's friend Théophile Gautier orchestrated a response to the art critics' scandalised reviews, ensuring the sculpture's great success.

At the end of 1847 Clésinger also produced a "Reclining Bacchante", slightly larger than "Woman" so as to confute criticisms of his technical skills with marble. This was exhibited in room 4 of the Petit Palais in the 1848 Salon – Théophile Gautier wrote that it showed "pure orgiastic delirium, the disheveled Maenad tumbled at the feet of Bacchus, father of liberty and joy ... A powerful spasm of happiness contracts and raises the young woman's opulent bosom and in fact makes the sparkling breasts spring up.". He concluded by calling the work "one of the most beautiful pieces of modern sculpture". It was a major inspiration for the American painter Kehinde Wiley's 2008 "Woman bitten by a serpent".
Q2871155
Auguste Clésinger
PER
Q23402
musée d'Orsay
LOC
Q1869372
Alfred Mosselman
PER
Q262478
Paris Salon
LOC
Q326434
Thomas Couture
PER
Q636001
The Romans in their Decadence
MEDIA
Q933495
demi-mondaine
Concept
Q1922334
Apollonie Sabatier
PER
Q501
Charles Baudelaire
PER
Q183713
Théophile Gautier
PER
Q820892
Petit Palais
LOC
Q183713
Théophile Gautier
PER
Q329092
Kehinde Wiley
PER
Q3068259
Woman Bitten by a Serpent
LOC
1847-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1847
DATE
1847-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1847
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1847-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1847
DATE
1848-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1848
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2008-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2008
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1814
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1883
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1822
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1890
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19
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4
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