In 1891, Auguste Rodin was commissioned by the Société des Gens de Lettres to create a memorial statue of the society’s first president, Honor de Balzac (1799-1850). He produced numerous studies based on a portrait by the photographer Nadar (1820-1910). In 1898, Rodin presented a plaster figure of Balzac wearing a gown at the salon but this was criticized variously as resembling a snowman, lava, or a pagan deity, and the Society refused to accept the work, asserting that it was unfinished. Rodin withdrew the work and placed it in his home, where it remained until his death. In 1939, a bronze was finally produced from the work, erected in Paris, and unveiled to the public. The realism of the figure was hidden by the gown, the boldly summarized form leading it to be recognized as the most contemporary of all Rodin’s works.