Génie de la danse (Spirit of the Dance), cast circa 1898. Jean Baptiste Carpeaux, France (1827-75). Jean Baptiste Carpeaux is the major sculptor associated with the rebuilding of Paris undertaken by Napoleon III in the second half of the nineteenth century. This bronze is a reduction of the central figure from the large scale stone relief Carpeaux sculpted for the facade of the new Opera House. When his work was unveiled in 1869 it caused a sensation because the female nude bachantes (female worshippers of the Greek god, Dionysus) surrounding the figure of the spirit of the dance were considered too realistic and not classical enough in their depiction. The composition is marked by great energy and vitality and is now considered one of the great outstanding examples of French nineteenth centure sculputre. It has been said of this work that rather illustrating dance, Carpeaux ‘created dance’. Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane.