|
The Thinker (French: Le Penseur) is a bronze and marble sculpture by Auguste
Rodin held in the Musée Rodin in Paris. It depicts a man in sober meditation battling with a powerful internal struggle.
It is often used to represent philosophy. Originally named The Poet, the
piece was part of a commission by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris to create a monumental portal to act
as the door of the museum. Rodin based his theme on The Divine Comedy of Dante and entitled the portal The Gates of Hell.
Each of the statues in the piece represented one of the main characters in the epic poem. The Thinker was originally meant
to depict Dante in front of the Gates of Hell, pondering his great poem. (In the final sculpture, a miniature of the statue
sits atop the gates, pondering the hellish fate of those beneath him.) The sculpture is nude, as Rodin wanted a heroic figure
in the tradition of Michelangelo, to represent intellect as well as poetry. Rodin
made a first small plaster version around 1880. The first large-scale bronze cast was finished in 1902, but not presented
to the public until 1904. It became the property of the city of Paris – thanks to a subscription organized by Rodin
admirers – and was put in front of the Panthéon in 1906. In 1922, it was moved to the Hôtel Biron, which
was transformed into a Rodin Museum.More than any other Rodin sculpture,
The Thinker moved into the popular imagination as an immediately recognizable icon of intellectual activity; consequently,
it has been subject to endless satirical use. This started in Rodin's lifetime. During the first season of the 1960s American
sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, many episodes began and ended with the title character sitting on a park bench
in the pose of the sculpture with a reproduction behind him.
Click here for the opening to the show The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis...what the hell is a Dobie? Anyway, wrapping this up,
the statue is in the background footage. Enjoy
|
