La Douleur ("La" "Duh-loor")
by Aristide Maillol ("Ar-is-teed" "My-loll"), 1922


To see this sculpture from every angle, press down on your mouse and move it around the sculpture.

These are some words that writers have used to describe the sculptures of this artist, Maillol:


Can you think of some of your own words to describe Maillol's sculpture?

What clues do we get from her pose to tell us how she feels?

If you get into the same pose as the woman, how does it make you feel?


Your first name: Your age:
Your city and state:



This sculpture is titled La Douleur, which means grief or sorrow in French. Maillol made it as a public sculpture for the town of Ceret in France. The sculpture was meant as a
monument to remember the people from Ceret who died in World War I. The photograph you see on the left shows the sculpture in the town of Ceret.

Although this is a sculpture of a woman, it is not meant to look like a specific, real woman. Maillol generalized, or left out details, to make this figure stand for an idea: she expresses the feelings of loss and sadness that people felt during and after World War I.

One of the special things about sculpture is how it occupies the same space in the room as you do. When you visit this sculpture at the UC Berkeley Art Museum, you can walk around it, viewing it from different angles.