The Thinker
Medium
bronze
Dimensions
70.8 × 34.9 × 59.7 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Modern European Painting and Sculpture
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Alexandre P. Rosenberg
Accession Number
1979.138
Tags
male
About this artwork
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, animati...