Aimé-Jules Dalou
The Unacknowledged Truth or The Broken Mirror
Aimé-Jules Dalou
Paris 1838 – Paris 1902
The Unacknowledged Truth
First model, 1890s; first edition, 1902
Cast after 1918
Bronze
14.3 x 8.8 x 12.8 cm
Cast Susse Frères, Paris
Gift of Philippe and Michèle Stora, inv. 2012.211
Western Art
The works of Aimé-Jules Dalou are notable for the fineness of their execution. This exquisite edition of The Unacknowledged Truth, also known as The Broken Mirror, belongs to a series of sensuous female nudes the artist executed in the 1890s, near the end of his life. This nude, seated on a rock, hiding her face and weeping, was modelled after his wife, as the bun on the nape of the neck recalls the hairstyle favoured by Madame Dalou. This allegory of Truth is perhaps related to the Dreyfus affair. It has been claimed that the model of this work was made to provide support for the family of Captain Dreyfus, unjustly accused of high treason in 1894 and only exonerated in 1906.
