
Edgar Degas’s famous bronze sculpture Little Dancer of Fourteen Years depicts a girl standing in a classic ballet pose, with one foot extended and her hands clasped behind her back. Degas mixed hard and soft textures, decorating the sculpture with a real cloth tutu and a long satin hair ribbon tied in a drooping loop.
The sculpture has a peaceful look on her upturned face, appearing both at ease and supplicant, submitting her body to the dance at hand. But in reality, her graceful posture and girlish appearance belie a far darker, more grotesque reality.
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