Artwork Page for The Thinker

Details / Information for The Thinker

The Thinker

1880–81

Auguste Rodin

(French, 1840–1917)
Culture
France, 19th century
Medium
bronze
Measurements
Overall: 182.9 x 98.4 x 142.2 cm (72 x 38 3/4 x 56 in.)
Weight: 1,650 pounds - weighed by crane on 5/31/2006
Credit Line
Gift of Ralph King 1917.42
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
SE South Entrance
Print
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Did You Know?

This enlarged version of The Thinker is one of less than 10 cast during Rodin's lifetime.

Description

The Thinker was first developed as part of Rodin's The Gates of Hell, a sculptured doorway for a proposed museum of decorative arts in Paris. Intended to be part of a relief directly above the doors, the rugged figure was originally conceived as a generalized image of the Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265–1321), who wrote the Divine Comedy.
Larger-than-life, dark-brown, bronze sculpture of a muscular, nude man seated, his right elbow supported by his left knee as he rests his chin on the back of his hand, lips pressed into his knuckles. His left wrist drapes over the same knee, knees turned slightly inward. He has short hair and a furrowed brow, looking down. Where his feet would have been, the bronze metal twists into jagged edges. Streaking grey drips cover the statue.

The Thinker

1880–81

Auguste Rodin

(French, 1840–1917)
France, 19th century

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