This figure originated in Rodin’s The Gates of Hell, where it was one of a group of half-human, half-animal creatures from Greek mythology. Rodin portrays the form of a fauness (half goat), but he does not include its hindquarters here as he does in his other mythological works. The only evidence of the animal is in the rough-hewn lines of the face, which contrast sharply with the smoothness of the body.