"Volubilis" is a series of marble sculptures by French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 sculptor

Sculpture

Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...

 Alfred Boucher

Alfred Boucher

A French sculptor, Alfred Boucher , mentor to Camille Claudel and friend of Auguste Rodin.Born in Bouy-sur-Ovin , he was the son of a farmhand who became the gardener of the sculptor Chantalle van Zanten, who, after recognizing Boucher's talent, opened his studio to him.He won the Grand Prix du...

 (1850 – 1934), mentor to Camille Claudel

Camille Claudel

Camille Claudel was a French sculptor and graphic artist. She was the elder sister of the poet and diplomat Paul Claudel.- Early years :...

 and friend of Auguste Rodin

Auguste Rodin

François-Auguste-René Rodin , known as Auguste Rodin , was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...

.

First exhibited at the Salon in 1896 (probably the example in Musée des Beaux-Arts, Troyes

Troyes

Troyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about southeast of Paris. Many half-timbered houses survive in the old town...

), Volubilis appeared in several variations on the theme of the female body emerging from a roughly carved surround.

Boucher reworked the idea over many years. It was first explored three years before the 1896 exhibit in his Tete de Diane. The theme continues with Aux Champs exhibited in 1897. The sculptural potency of this format continued to intrigue Boucher, whose later revision in 1912 is entitled La Reve.

The concept of a beautiful creature evolving out of a piece of crudely carved rock is one of exciting contrasts, a kind of Pygmalion process whereby the sculptor's Muse comes alive, the sensuality heightened by the contrast between the unfinished and finished, the severity of the rock against the smoothness of the skin. It is achieved by carving in three-quarter relief, a method exploited by Boucher's contemporary and friend Auguste Rodin

Auguste Rodin

François-Auguste-René Rodin , known as Auguste Rodin , was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...

, but drawing its inspiration from Michelangelo

Michelangelo

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...

's unfinished Slaves.