The Unacknowledged Truth or The Broken Mirror

The works of Aimé-Jules Dalou are notable for the fineness of their execution. This exquisite edition of The Unacknowledged Truth, also known as The Broken Mirror, belongs to a series of sensuous female nudes the artist executed in the 1890s, near the end of his life. This nude, seated on a rock, hiding her face and weeping, was modelled after his wife, as the bun on the nape of the neck recalls the hairstyle favoured by Madame Dalou. This allegory of Truth is perhaps related to the Dreyfus affair. It has been claimed that the model of this work was made to provide support for the family of Captain Dreyfus, unjustly accused of high treason in 1894 and only exonerated in 1906.