Rodin Museum - Collections Object : The Thinker

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The Thinker

Signed right side of base: A.Rodin Foundry mark left side of base: ALEXIS RUDIER/Fondeur. PARIS

Made in France, Europe

Modeled 1880-1881, enlarged 1902-1904; cast 1919

Auguste Rodin, French, 1840 - 1917. Cast by the founder Alexis Rudier, Paris, 1874 - 1952.

Bronze
6 feet 7 inches × 51 1/4 inches × 55 1/4 inches (200.7 × 130.2 × 140.3 cm)

* Rodin Museum, Parkway

F1929-7-123

Bequest of Jules E. Mastbaum, 1929

Label

Auguste Rodin originally conceived a smaller version of this sculpture to sit atop his monumental bronze portal entitled The Gates of Hell (1880-1917). The figure was intended to represent Italian poet Dante Alighieri pondering The Divine Comedy, his epic story of Paradise and Inferno. However, in 1889 Rodin exhibited the sculpture independently of The Gates, giving it the title The Thinker, and in 1902 he embarked on this larger version.

More information on this object can be found in the following Theme:

The Gates of Hell
When Rodin began work on The Gates of Hell he knew that he wanted a large figure to serve as the focal point of the doors. The artist initially intended to represent the Italian poet Dante Alighieri at the moment when he realizes that his descent into hell is inevitable. However, as The Gates evolved from a literal illustration of Dante's Divine Comedy into a more general representation of hell, the centerpiece of the doors also evolved. Rodin recalled: "Guided by my first inspiration I conceived another thinker, a naked man, seated upon a rock, his feet drawn under him, his fist against his teeth, he dreams. The fertile thought slowly elaborates itself within his brain. He is no longer dreamer, he is creator."
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