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Mapping the body and the brain: Neurology and localization theory in the work of Rodin
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Mapping the body and the brain: Neurology and localization theory in the work of Rodin

Barbara Larson
RACAR: Revue d'art Canadienne / Canadian Art Review, Vol.34, pp.30-40
34
2009

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Abstract

This essay attempts to interpret the expressive forms of Rodin's sculptures in the light of the medical models of the brain and the body that begin to circulate towards the end of the nineteenth century. Based on neurological science, the theory of localization stipulated that the brain consisted of individual spheres assuming distinct bodily functions and that specific neurological channels were particular areas. Localization theory postulated that brain activities were similar based on discovery that the two sides of the ceilings were not identical. Complying with these new theories, Rodin's figures respond to a multiplicity of internal stimuli, as if various sensations, reactions, and movements not totally integrated occurred simultaneously. While we owe to neurology the rebirth of the concept of genius (artist/poet), Rodin's Thinker (artist/poet) adopts the emblematic posture of melancholy, traditionally associated with both genius and pathology. The theory of localization and neurology have served as the basis for studies on hysterical-epileptic women led by Jean-Martin Charcot. In π‘‡β„Žπ‘’ πΊπ‘Žπ‘‘π‘’π‘  π‘œπ‘“ 𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑙 by Rodin, just behind the Thinker, we find several figures of damned women who adopt postures associated with this disorder.

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