Which sculpture by Auguste Rodin was first called The Vanquished?

The Age of Bronze was first called The Vanquished by Auguste Rodin.

Rodin created The Age of Bronze in the 1870s, and the work was initially titled The Vanquished. It depicts a nude male figure standing with one arm raised and the other lowered. The sculpture became an important early step in Rodin’s development as a major sculptor.

The work was exhibited in Brussels in 1877 and later in Paris. Critics accused Rodin of making the figure by casting directly from a living model, a serious allegation because it questioned the artist’s originality. Rodin defended himself, and the controversy ultimately brought wider attention to the sculpture.

The title The Age of Bronze emphasizes the work’s material and its association with early human history, while The Vanquished reflects the figure’s original symbolic interpretation. Rodin eventually became strongly identified with the later title.