Many years ago, Marie hoped to be a famous ballerina, but because her family had too little money for lessons she began modeling at the ballet school. The painter for whom she modeled was the artist Edgar Degas. As Degas' figure of The Little Dancer took shape, Marie began to feel sympathy for the bad-tempered artist. When the sculpture was finished, thousands of art lovers came to see the statue, making Marie the most famous dancer of all. Here is an exquisite introduction to the life of a great 19th-century French artist, with beautiful impressionistic illustrations and reproductions of Degas' own work.