Little Dancer of Fourteen Years
The "Little Dancer" wax sculpture we see today is a reworked version of the original sculpture that was shown in 1881. After seeing the wax sculpture in Degas’ living quarters in April 1903, the New York collector Louisine Havemeyer expressed interest in buying the wax. After proposing a bronze or cast wax of the sculpture, which Mrs. Havemeyer refused, Degas took his wax figure upstairs to his working studio and told Vollard he was reworking the sculpture for Havemeyer for 40,000 francs. Degas never sold the sculpture to Mrs. Havemeyer. After Degas died, it was found in a corner of his studio. Paul Lefond, Degas’ biographer, described the "Little Dancer" wax after Degas’ death as "nothing but a ruin;" and Mary Cassatt telegraphed Mrs. Havemeyer "Statue Bad Condition." However, the wax sculpture we know today is not a ruin. It is Degas' reworked second version of his wax figure. At some point before Degas extensively reworked his sculpture, he allowed a plaster to be cast from the wax figure. This recently re-discovered plaster records the "Little Dancer"’s original pose, bodice, and hairdo. The plaster is now in a private collection in the United States.
Hieronymus Janssens
Janssens' paintings are often both signed and dated, with dates ranging from 1646 to 1661. Like his teacher van der Laemen he was specialized in dance scenes, set inside a house or on an outside terrace. This is where he got the nickname "Den danser" or "The dancer". These works contributed to the development of the genre of the conversation piece in the Low Countries. His representations of elegant companies and balls and the works of Peter Paul Rubens, in particular his "Garden of Love" (Prado Museum), were significant for the formation of the genre. In this last work, Rubens showed how a garden could be used as a setting for amorous dalliance and courtship.