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Aristide Maillol (French, born Banyuls-sur-Mer, 1861-1944) played an important role in the development of sculpture, from Romanticism to the modern sculptors of the twentieth-century. Using the female form as his primary vehicle, Maillol tempered the emotional quality of Auguste Rodin's work with a quiet restraint. His sculpture may appear classical, but Maillol's work is intensely modern in the subtle tension between the sense of force around a central axis and the sense of force moving outward from that axis, inherent in viewing his sculpture in the round.
Action in Chains honors a French revolutionary and political activist who had vehemently opposed the monarchist government of Napoleon III. For a half-century, Louis-Auguste Blanqui campaigned for a democratic republic with a socialist economy-a radical agenda that earned him repeated imprisonment. Despite spending over 35 years in prison, Blanqui endured and built an influential political party. Even after his death, his courage inspired many in the Third Republic.
Referring to Greco-Roman traditions, Maillol used a female nude as a symbol of victory, subtly adapting some of Rodin's innovations to convey Blanqui's inspirational power. The figure's hands are tied behind her back to symbolize Blanqui's imprisonment, while her body inexorably strides forward.