What physiognomy did Degas think he was giving her?
Okay, I'd already returned the e-book when I originally responded, but since this point appears to be of general interest, I borrowed it again to copy some of the relevant bits:
"The face of the Little Dancer undeniably has some of the features identified by the phrenologists and medical anatomists of the day as typically criminal: a sloping forehead, a protruding jaw, prominent cheekbones, thick hair. It has been reported that Edgar Degas sought out information on these physiognomic theories, which are illustrated in several of his oil portraits and monotypes of bordellos." Laurens also notes that, comparing Degas' sketches to the actual sculpture, it appears that he accentuated these features.
Laurens is not entirely sure what to make of this, writing that: "A parallel question is whether Degas believed in the fashionable physiognomic theories of his time, to the point of wanting to illustrate them by modeling his Little Dancer's features to resemble those of a delinquent ... Or, on the contrary, was the sculpture intended to create a needed scandal, exposing the racist roots of this pseudo-science and abjection of society?" She considers arguments on both sides and... doesn't really come to a conclusion.
Regardless of what Degas intended, apparently critics responded by saying she looked "depraved" and had "the features of a 'criminal.'" Part of this reaction was also due more broadly to the fact that, as a low-level and lower-class ballet dancer (a "rat"), she was "perceived ... as a prostitute, either actual or prospective." This is all especially heartbreaking in the context of the sculpture literally being titled "Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen."
So, tl;dr... OOF.
(Interestingly, Degas apparently also had Marie van Goethem model for The Schoolgirl, which portrays a very different social context.)
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2025-05-15 07:29 pm (UTC)Okay, I'd already returned the e-book when I originally responded, but since this point appears to be of general interest, I borrowed it again to copy some of the relevant bits:
"The face of the Little Dancer undeniably has some of the features identified by the phrenologists and medical anatomists of the day as typically criminal: a sloping forehead, a protruding jaw, prominent cheekbones, thick hair. It has been reported that Edgar Degas sought out information on these physiognomic theories, which are illustrated in several of his oil portraits and monotypes of bordellos." Laurens also notes that, comparing Degas' sketches to the actual sculpture, it appears that he accentuated these features.
Laurens is not entirely sure what to make of this, writing that: "A parallel question is whether Degas believed in the fashionable physiognomic theories of his time, to the point of wanting to illustrate them by modeling his Little Dancer's features to resemble those of a delinquent ... Or, on the contrary, was the sculpture intended to create a needed scandal, exposing the racist roots of this pseudo-science and abjection of society?" She considers arguments on both sides and... doesn't really come to a conclusion.
Regardless of what Degas intended, apparently critics responded by saying she looked "depraved" and had "the features of a 'criminal.'" Part of this reaction was also due more broadly to the fact that, as a low-level and lower-class ballet dancer (a "rat"), she was "perceived ... as a prostitute, either actual or prospective." This is all especially heartbreaking in the context of the sculpture literally being titled "Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen."
So, tl;dr... OOF.
(Interestingly, Degas apparently also had Marie van Goethem model for The Schoolgirl, which portrays a very different social context.)