Le Penseur - Auguste Rodin

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Scanned at the Rodin Museum of Meudon Initially known as The Poet, this piece was part of a commission from the Paris Museum of Decorative Arts to create a monumental portal based on Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. Each statue in this piece represented one of the main characters from the epic poem. The Thinker was originally intended to represent Dante standing before the gates of Hell, pondering his poem. While maintaining its place within the monumental ensemble of The Gate, The Thinker was exhibited alone as early as 1888 and became an autonomous work. Expanded in 1904, it took on a monumental scale that further increased its popularity: this image of a man immersed in thought, but whose powerful body suggests great capacity for action, has become one of the most famous sculptures ever created.