In his design for The Gates of Hell, dating from 1881, Rodin wanted to place Adam and Eve either side of The Gates as pendants. He later described how he had started to model a large female figure when he had had to stop because his sister, who was pregnant, could no longer pose for him. He did not exhibit this unfinished statue of Eve until 1899, by which time he felt bold enough to show his works in a fragmentary or incomplete state.