In 1900 Auguste Rodin, the major Romantic sculptor of the period, resurrected studies for the torso and legs of a work begun 30 years earlier. He reassembled them to create Walking Man.

Rodin did not hide the force he used to attach the torso to the hips and remove the head and arms. Those areas bear the marks of his hands and tools. The missing parts and surface gouges suggest the figure has survived torment, but the legs still stride forward purposefully, symbolizing humanity's perseverance in the face of adversity.

Courtesy of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1966.