10. The Thinker
It may be surprising to learn that the original cast of The Thinker was a mere 70 cm. In the imperial measurement system, this is roughly 27 ½ inches or slightly over two feet. French sculptor Auguste Rodin created the small original in 1880 with the intention of it being in a larger piece to be called “The Gates of Hell.” This small version also had a different name – “the poet,” and has been interpreted as intended to represent the author of The Inferno, Dante Alighieri, himself. However, there are some arguments against this view as Dante never appeared naked in the poem and the physical form of the sculpture does not represent Alighieri’s far slighter body.
The sculpture was renamed The Thinker for its first public exhibition in 1888. The enlarged version that we all recognize today was first debuted in 1904. There are now dozens of casts of the expanded version of the original around the world, many of which were created under Rodin’s supervision but not all including numerous posthumous casts in other materials including plaster.
The original 70 cm version of The Thinker was created from plaster. The first bronze casting became the property of the city of Paris, France and is currently on display in front of what is now the Rodin museum. The first cast sculpture, which is also the only one created using the lost-wax casting method, resides at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky.
