Standing Bather entered the collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art in 1941 with the title “Eve.” The mistaken identity probably occurred because Maillol had sculpted a similar figure holding an apple (a true Eve) just the previous year. In a sense, all of Maillol’s figures evoke an Edenic world of sun-drenched pleasure. The figure’s status as a mere bather does not lessen the feeling that she is imbued with some sort of archaic ritual significance, an impression reinforced by her rigid ceremonious bearing. The fullness and smooth perfection of Maillol’s female figures express the artist’s fascination with the fantasy of a Mediterranean paradise in a golden age.