In 1864, Rodin met Rose Beuret who became his model, studio manager, the mother of his child, and finally, late in life, his wife. In 1867–1868 Rodin modeled a bust of Rose, which he exhibited with the generalized title “Mignon,” or “small, graceful one.” The work reflects the renewed emphasis on close observation and realism characteristic of his work in the 1860s. Rodin’s apparently spontaneous modeling captures Rose Beuret’s strong features and imbues her intense expression with a sense of youthful fearlessness. The artist balances crisp linear precision with a bold organization of masses to create agitated lights and shadows. Sculptural portraiture produced with such freshness and technical bravura had rarely been seen since the work of Gianlorenzo Bernini in the seventeenth century.