Victor Hugo

Rodin was commissioned to create a monument to Victor Hugo for the Panthéon in 1889, and (as per usual for him) went in a very untraditional direction for which he received severe pushback. This shows Hugo during his Guernsey exile, partly nude, with a realistically old and unidealised body, lying on the shoreline rocks as though on a comfy chair and listening to his Muse. The jury eventually rejected his proposal.

According to Wikipedia, the 1897 plaster model (one of many drafts Rodin produced) was not cast in bronze until 1964.