Edgar Degas
Degas's work was controversial, but was generally admired for its draftsmanship. His "La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans", or "Little Dancer of Fourteen Years", which he displayed at the sixth Impressionist exhibition in 1881, was probably his most controversial piece; some critics decried what they thought its "appalling ugliness" while others saw in it a "blossoming". In part Degas' originality consisted in disregarding the smooth, full surfaces and contours of classical sculpture ... [and] in garnishing his little statue with real hair and clothing made to scale like the accoutrements for a doll. These relatively "real" additions heightened the illusion, but they also posed searching questions, such as what can be referred to as "real" when art is concerned. The suite of pastels depicting nudes that Degas exhibited in the eighth Impressionist Exhibition in 1886 produced "the most concentrated body of critical writing on the artist during his lifetime ... The overall reaction was positive and laudatory".
Little Dedo
Little Dedo is, according to a story, a small gargoyle with pointy ears and human-like feet on the roof of Notre Dame Cathedral. According to a story published by Design Toscana, when the cathedral was built in 1160, a nun from a tiny convent in Provence, disliked the menacing gargoyles that were being placed on top of the building as reminders of the nature of sin and evil. As the daughter of a stone cutter, she had learned the tools of the trade and decided to put them to good use. One day, she disguised herself as a workman, gained entrance to the work site and quickly carved the sculpture from a small block before placing it on the highest roof.