The Thinker

Rodin’s The Thinker depicts a nude figure seated in concentrated reflection. First conceived around 1880–1882 for The Gates of Hell, Rodin’s monumental portal inspired by Dante’s Inferno, the figure was intended to represent a poet or creator contemplating the torments below. It later became an independent work and a lasting symbol of philosophy and inner struggle. The Thinker exists in multiple bronze casts, along with smaller studies and plaster versions. The most famous monumental bronze version was first cast in 1904.

The Thinker was first cast as an independent small bronze around 1888. The familiar monumental bronze version was made in 1904 by Fonderie Alexis Rudier. Installed in front of the Panthéon in Paris on April 21, 1906, after a public subscription organized by Gabriel Mourey, it remained there until 1922, when it entered the Musée Rodin following Rodin’s 1916 donation of his collection and archives to the French state.