Why did Auguste Rodin’s monument to Victor Hugo face public opposition?

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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 1886 commission for a monument to Victor Hugo, intended for the Panthéon in Paris, faced significant public opposition primarily due to the nudity depicted in the work. The sculpture caused such shock among the public that Rodin was ultimately forced to abandon the project. It was not until 1909 that a different version of the monument—also featuring a nude, seated figure—was installed at the Palais-Royal instead of its originally intended location in the Luxembourg Gardens.1