In these two small sculptures we see Rodin’s practice of reusing and revising earlier sculptural ideas, even in monument commissions.

After the death of French painter Eugène Carrière (1849–1906), a committee invited Rodin to create a memorial. For his design Rodin returned to a previous work, in which a poet takes hold of a winged Love figure that is straining to get away. In adapting it for Carrière, he made subtle but significant modifications: the male form stands confidently, unaware of the affectionate presence hovering over him.