What was Rodin's The Thinker thinking about?
The great French sculptor Auguste Rodin finally unveiled his bronze sculpture The Thinker. While the work fully showcases his talent and raw craftsmanship, it seems somewhat less provocative and sensational than usual.
This piece is meant to be placed at the center of his monumental work The Gates of Hell, which stands at six meters tall. The Gates of Hell was created as a response to Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise in Florence.
Originally, Rodin’s The Thinker was not intended to depict a man lost in deep thought. Instead, it was a sculpture of the poet Dante (1265–1321).