The Dance 1869

"The Dance" is a marble sculpture by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, created in 1869 and currently located in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, France. The sculpture depicts a group of figures in a swirling, dynamic dance, with a central male figure holding a tambourine and surrounded by a group of women and children. This work is considered to be a masterpiece of French Romantic sculpture. Its dynamic composition and expressive figures capture the energy and emotion of dance. Carpeaux's work was highly controversial at the time of its creation, but is now considered a landmark of 19th-century sculpture.