The Thinker

The Thinker (French: Le Penseur) is one of Auguste Rodin's famous bronze sculptures. It depicts a man in sober meditation battling with a powerful internal struggle.

Originally named The Poet, the piece was part of a commission by the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris to create a monumental portal based on The Divine Comedy of Dante. Each of the statues in the piece represented one of the main characters in the epic poem. The Thinker was originally meant to depict Dante in front of the Gates of Hell, pondering his great poem. The sculpture is naked as Rodin wanted a heroic figure à la Michelangelo to represent thinking as well as poetry.

Over twenty casts of the sculpture are in museums around the world. Some of these copies are enlarged versions of the original work, as well as, sculptures of different proportions.

External link

• The Thinker project, Munich. Discussion of the history of the many casts of this artwork.