The Private Life of a Masterpiece

Edgar Degas: La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans (7x2)

Air date: Apr 24, 2004

The statue of the young girl in a real ballet dress is often seen today just as a pretty image of dancer making one of the classic moves of ballet. But to the people who first saw the statue when it was unveiled it was a dangerous, even disgraceful, portrayal of a degenerate girl little more than a whore. The programme reveals the story of the real woman who Degas used as a model and includes revelations about how the statue as actually made.