Fugitive Love, also known as Fugit Amor, is a sculpture by the famous French artist Auguste Rodin. Created between 1886-1887, this art piece represents a man and woman embracing each other on top of a rock. One of the recurring subjects in Rodin’s work is man’s constant desire for love and its transience, which is beautifully conveyed in this sculpture.
The group is part of the second circle of Hell, “Circle of the Lustful,” described in Canto V of Inferno by Dante. In this group, the lovers are buffeted back and forth by winds that torment them without respite. Interestingly, the head and torso of one of Ugolino’s sons were reworked to become part of Fugit Amor’s male figure.
This small bronze group is also referred to as “The race into the abyss.” The couple appears acrobatically clinging to each other as if being pulled by opposing invisible forces. The woman has both hands raised against her head while the man faces upward in an awkward position as if about to slide off the woman’s back. Although often cast in bronze, it was also carved from marble.
