Focus on Alsatian Orphan and analyze the Description.
This bust represents a girl with her head slightly bent to the side. Her childish face expresses a soft melancholy. Her veil is characteristic of the province of Alsace, northern France which was lost in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. The bust was described as "L'exemplaire" with her veil of silk arranged like a butterfly spreading its wings. The sculpture is considered one of Rodin's first big successes, and exhibited on several occasions between 1871 and 1884 and in several formats, including marble and terracotta.
Franco-Prussian War Alsace marble terracotta France