A well worn photograph from 1877 by Gaudenzio Marconi of the soldier August Neyt, who was cheaper than a professional model to hire, taken especially for the famous sculptor Rodin to use as a working study for his acclaimed bronze nude entitled “The Age of Bronze”.

Gaudenzio Marconi 1841-1885 was an early photographer who did figure studies for the likes of Rhodin. Marconi sold photographs of models to students in Paris. Artists often sketched from photographs when life models were not available