It has become the iconic symbol of thinking; images of the sculpture in profile are often used to indicate philosophy and other practices of contemplation or introspection.

The Thinker, sculpture of a pensive nude male by French artist Auguste Rodin, one of his most well-known works.

In a real sense, The Thinker is Rodin. Brutishly muscled yet engrossed in thought, coiled in tension yet loose in repose, the sculpture, according to one early twentieth-century critic, embodies both "dream …

Jun 3, 2025 · Explore the fascinating history of Auguste Rodin's 'The Thinker'—from its origins to its global significance as a symbol of contemplation.

The Thinker was originally conceived not in heroic isolation, but as part of Rodin's monumental Gates of Hell —a pair of bronze doors intended for a museum of decorative arts in Paris.

The pose of this figure owes much to Carpeaux’s Ugolino (1861) and to the seated portrait of Lorenzo de’ Medici carved by Michelangelo (1526-31). While remaining in place on the monumental Gates of …

Mar 20, 2025 · First exhibited as an individual sculpture in 1888, The Thinker proved to be so popular that it was soon cast again and even enlarged, with many versions present worldwide today, from the …

But the sculptor eventually separated the figure from The Gates, exhibiting it alone as a generic portrait he called The Poet or The Thinker. In 1904 the city of Paris installed a larger version of the work as a …

Aug 20, 2024 · In 1906, the city of Paris acquired The Thinker, and the monumental sculpture was installed as a public monument in front of the Panthéon. The Thinker’s plain face was seen as …

The Thinker, originally a part of Rodin's The Gates of Hell, exists in several versions. The original size and the later monumental size versions were both created by Rodin, and the most valuable versions …