03/17/2022
The Thinker
Bronze* - Height cm. 184 ( 72 1/2 ")
Of all Rodin’s works, The Thinker was the most important to him. Rodin guarded this sculpture with unusual care: variations of the work were entrusted only to his most experienced associates and casters.* Placement of the enlargement of 1903-6, retitled The Great Thinker, was of critical concern. The first cast marked the entrance to the Pantheon, France’s final resting place for many of its heroes. Rodin also designated The Great Thinker as the monument to mark his and Rose Beuret’s tomb.
* Until he gave the figure to the Alexis Rudier foundry in 1906, Rodin demanded that bronze versions, even of The Great Thinker, be produced by the arduous lost-wax method of casting.
Scanned at the Rodin Museum of Meudon Tout d’abord appelée Le Poète, cette pièce fait partie d’une commande du musée des arts décoratifs de Paris, qui voulait créer un portail monumental basé sur la Divine Comédie, de Dante Alighieri. Chacune des statues de cette pièce représen...
