France, 19th century / 1880–81
The Thinker
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs The Thinker as sculpture (France, 19th century · 1880–81).
This enlarged version of The Thinker is one of less than 10 cast during Rodin's lifetime.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this sculpture as bronze and credits Auguste Rodin (French, 1840–1917).
The museum's collection notes: 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 .
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtThe ThinkerOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.