Collection record · Objects & craft
The Thinker
The collection record classifies this work as sculpture. It is dated c. 1880. Recorded culture or place: France.
Explore the object recordOBJECT RECORD
A closer look at the details.
- Museum title
- The Thinker
- Date
- c. 1880
- Culture / origin
- France
- Materials and technique
- bronze
- Dimensions
- Overall: 70.8 x 34.9 x 59.7 cm (27 7/8 x 13 3/4 x 23 1/2 in.)
- Artist / maker
- Auguste Rodin (French, 1840–1917)
- Museum
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession number
- 1979.138
FROM THE MUSEUM
In the museum’s words
The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.
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 to spring from his perch, yet seems simultaneously caught in the inaction of deep thought. Rodin produced independent versions of The Thinker, first in this original size and later in a monumental version.
FOLLOW THE SOURCE
Text and image sources
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Gift of Alexandre P. Rosenberg · CC0
The summary is based on public collection data. Refer to the museum’s latest record for the title, date and attribution.
Open the complete museum record View the open-access policyTHE VISITOR BOOK
What caught your eye?
Opening the visitor book…
