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How did Auguste Rodin’s trip to Italy change his art?

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Portrait of Auguste Rodin standing indoors, wearing a buttoned, two-toned coat with a full beard and tousled hair, looking slightly to the side. — Auguste Rodin French sculptor Auguste Rodin.

Auguste Rodin’s 1875 trip to Italy was a pivotal turning point in his career, providing the "shock" that stimulated his genius and helped him break free from the constraints of his previous decorative work.1

Before this journey, Rodin had struggled to develop a personally expressive style due to the pressures of commercial stonework. By visiting cities such as Genoa, Florence, Rome, Naples, and Venice, he encountered the transformative influence of Michelangelo and Donatello. These masters rescued him from the academicism that had defined his earlier professional experience.1

Inspired by these encounters, Rodin created his first original work, the bronze statue The Vanquished—later exhibited as The Age of Bronze. This piece marked a departure from his contemporaries' work through its intense realism and expressive power, establishing a new foundation for his future artistic development.12