The Private Life of a Masterpiece
Edgar Degas: La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans
S7 • E2 Jan 15, 2006 50m
The statue of the young girl in a real ballet dress is often seen today just as a pretty image of dancer making one of the classic moves of ballet. But to the people who first saw the statue when it was unveiled it was a dangerous, even disgraceful, portrayal of a degenerate girl little more than a whore. The programme reveals the story of the real woman who Degas used as a model and includes revelations about how the statue as actually made.
