The Thinker
c. 1880
- Medium
- bronze
- Dimensions
- 70.8 × 34.9 × 59.7 cm
- Status
- In Museum Collection
- Collect24 Art ID
- C24-195440
Rodin originally conceived The Thinker as a depiction of the Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) sitting in the upper center of a monumental sculptural doorway titled The Gates of Hell (below). Inspired by Dante’s description of a journey through the underworld in his epic poem The Divine Comedy (about 1320), The Thinker contemplates mankind’s fate while gazing at a host of damned figures writhing in anguish below. Stripped of clothing, the figure’s rippling muscles convey an inner, animating life force symbolic of mental activity or creative effort. The figure leans forward, as if ready…
Provenance
Rosenberg, 1979.138
Registry history
- c. 1880 — Recorded in the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art — sculpture
Registered on Collect24
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