''The Mad Maiden'' or ''The Mad Virgin'' (Dutch: ''Het zotte geweld'' or ''De dwaze maagd'') is a

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

by the Belgian artist Rik Wouters, created in 1912. The statue depicts Wouters' wife and muse, Nel Deurinckx, in a dynamic and ecstatic dancing pose. Wouters very often painted, drew and sculpted his wife in charming, everyday settings, while she was sleeping, reading, or doing domestic chores. ''The Mad Maiden'' is exceptional because it shows her in such an unusually carefree way. With this sensual sculpture, Wouters clearly distanced himself from the emotionlessness of academic art of his time. Wouters became inspired for this sculpture when he and Nel visited a 1907 performance by the American modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan in the

Muntschouwburg The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (french: Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, italic=no, ; nl, Koninklijke Muntschouwburg, italic=no; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National O ...

in Brussels. Several copies of the sculpture were made, also after the artist's early death in 1916. Casts of the sculpture are part of the following art collections: * Middelheimmuseum, Antwerp, Belgium (on loan from the Royal Museum of Fine Art Antwerp) *

Belfius Art Collection The Belfius Art Collection is a collection of Belgian art owned by the Belfius Bank (and thus as of August 2018 by the Belgian State, owner of Belfius since 2011). History The current collection of Belfius Bank is the combination of the collecti ...

, Brussels, Belgium *

Musée d'Ixelles The Museum of Ixelles (french: Musée d'Ixelles, nl, Museum van Elsene), also called the (Municipal) Museum of Fine Arts of Ixelles (french: Musée (communal) des Beaux-Arts d'Ixelles, link=no, nl, (Gemeentelijk) Museum voor Schone Kunsten v ...

, Brussels, Belgium * Le Musée en Plein Air du Sart-Tilman, Liège, Belgium

Bibliography

* Bernard Dewulf, "De feesttooi van het licht. Over Rik Wouters", in: ''Bijlichtingen. Kijken naar schilders'', Uitgeverij Atlas, 2001 * Peter Theunynck en Lies Van Gasse, ''Nel, een zot geweld'', Uitgeverij Wereldbibliotheek, 2016

References

{{Authority control Bronze sculptures in Belgium