Modern · Cleveland Museum of Art · 1917.42
The Thinker
Auguste Rodin, 1880–81
Cleveland Museum of Art · Gift of Ralph King · Public domain
- Artist
- Auguste Rodin
- Date
- 1880–81
- Medium
- bronze
- Dimensions
- Overall: 182.9 x 98.4 x 142.2 cm (72 x 38 3/4 x 56 in.)
- Era
- Modern
Why it matters
The Thinker was first developed as part of Rodin's The Gates of Hell , a sculptured doorway for a proposed museum of decorative arts in Paris. Intended to be part of a relief directly above the doors, the rugged figure was originally conceived as a generalized image of the Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265–1321), who wrote the Divine Comedy .