The Thinker

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The Thinker
Musee Rodin 1.jpg
Le Penseur (1904) in the Musée Rodin in Paris
Artist Auguste Rodin
Year1904;120 years ago (1904)
Medium Bronze

The Thinker (French : Le Penseur) is a bronze sculpture by Auguste Rodin, situated atop a stone pedestal. The work depicts a nude male figure of heroic size sitting on a rock. He is seen leaning over, his right elbow placed on his left thigh, holding the weight of his chin on the back of his right hand. The pose is one of deep thought and contemplation, and the statue is often used as an image to represent philosophy.

Contents

Rodin conceived the figure as part of his work The Gates of Hell commissioned in 1880, but the first of the familiar monumental bronze castings was made in 1904, and is now exhibited at the Musée Rodin, in Paris.

There are 27 other known full-sized castings, in which the figure is approximately 185 cm (73 inches) high, though not all were made during Rodin's lifetime and under his supervision. There are various other versions, several in plaster, and studies and posthumous castings exist in a range of sizes.

Origin

The Thinker in The Gates of Hell at the Musee Rodin Le penseur de la Porte de lEnfer (musee Rodin) (4528252054).jpg
The Thinker in The Gates of Hell at the Musée Rodin

The Thinker was initially named The Poet (French: Le Poète), and was part of a large commission begun in 1880 for a doorway surround called The Gates of Hell . Rodin based this on the early 14th century poem The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, and most of the figures in the work represented the main characters in the poem with The Thinker at the center of the composition over the doorway and somewhat larger than most of the other figures. Some critics believe that it was originally intended to depict Dante at the gates of Hell, pondering his great poem.

Other critics reject that theory, pointing out that the figure is naked while Dante is fully clothed throughout his poem, and that the sculpture's physique does not correspond to Dante's effete figure. [1] The sculpture is nude, as Rodin wanted a heroic figure in the tradition of Michelangelo, to represent intellect as well as poetry.[ citation needed ] Other critics came to see the sculpture as a self-portrait. [1] [2] This detail from the Gates of Hell was first named The Thinker by foundry workers, who noted its similarity to Michelangelo's statue of Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino, called Il Pensieroso (The Thinker). [1]

Rodin's model, the boxer Jean Baud Jean Baud Boxer s.jpg
Rodin's model, the boxer Jean Baud

The model for this sculpture, as for other works by Rodin, was the muscular French prizefighter and wrestler Jean Baud, who mostly appeared in the red-light district. Jean Baud was also featured on the 1911 Swiss 50 franc note by Hodler.

The original is in the Musée Rodin in Paris. The sculpture has a height of 72 cm, was made of bronze and had been finely patinated and polished. The work depicts a nude male figure of heroic size who is tense, muscular and internalized, contemplating the actions and fate of the people while sitting on a rock. He is seen leaning over, his right elbow placed on his left thigh, holding the weight of his chin on the back of his right hand. The pose is one of deep thought and contemplation, and the statue is often used as an image to represent philosophy. This and many other works by Rodin were groundbreaking for modernism and heralded a new age of three-dimensional artistic creation.

The work was enlarged in 1902 to a height of 181 cm. The monumental version became the artist's first work in public space. The figure was designed to be seen from below and is normally displayed on a fairly high plinth, although the heights vary considerably chosen by the various owners.

Casts

A cast of The Thinker at Columbia University 2014 Columbia University The Thinker.jpg
A cast of The Thinker at Columbia University

The Thinker has been cast in multiple versions and is found around the world, but the history of the progression from models to castings is still not entirely clear. About 28 monumental-sized bronze casts are in museums and public places. In addition, there are sculptures of different study-sized scales and plaster versions (often painted bronze) in both monumental and study sizes. Some newer castings have been produced posthumously and are not considered part of the original production.

Rodin made the first small plaster version around 1881. The first full-scale model was presented at the Salon des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1904. A public subscription financed a bronze casting, which became the property of the City of Paris, and was put in front of the Panthéon. [3] In 1922, the original bronze was moved to the Musée Rodin.

Art market

In June 2022 a cast was put up for sale at Christie's in Paris with an estimate of up to €14m. The cast was made in about 1928 at the Rudier Foundry, founded by Alexis Rudier (1845-1897) who worked with Antoine Bourdelle and Aristide Maillol. [4]

Reception

3D model, click to interact Scan the World - The Thinker (Auguste Rodin).stl
3D model, click to interact

Max Linde had a copy of the monumental version cast in 1904 and placed it in the garden of his villa, Lindesche Villa. There Edvard Munch painted his painting Rodin's Thinker in the Garden of Dr. Linde, which is now in the Behnhaus. The cast later went to the Detroit Institute of Arts. [5]

Rodin's The Thinker (in the park of the Lindesche Villa with the family in the background) by Edvard Munch Edvard Munch, Le Penseur de Rodin dans le parc du Docteur Linde a Lubeck, 1907 .jpg
Rodin's TheThinker (in the park of the Lindesche Villa with the family in the background) by Edvard Munch

In his film The Great Dictator, Charlie Chaplin shows the Venus de Milo and Rodin's Thinker with the modification that the left arms are stretched out in the Hynkel salute. [6] With this allusion to the Nazi salute, Chaplin addresses the integration of art into Nazi propaganda. [7] In the film Night at the Museum 2, the protagonists encounter a statue of the Thinker that has been brought to life. When asked a question, he simply replies, "I think...I think...I think." Later in the film, he flirts with a statue of Aphrodite. [8] In Death at a Funeral , the statue is quoted as Alan Tudyk sitting naked on a rooftop in a "thinking pose." [9] In Midnight in Paris, the then French first lady Carla Bruni made a cameo appearance as a tour guide, explaining the sculpture of the Thinker to a group of American visitors in the garden of the Musée Rodin.

In singer Ariana Grande's "God Is a Woman" music video, she sits in the Thinker pose while being attacked by small angry men. They throw into them words taken from the book they are on. However, these bounce off the singer when they reach her.

As part of the Stadt.Wand.Kunst  [ de ] project launched in Mannheim for the painting of houses in the city with large-scale wall paintings (so-called murals) by national and international artists from the street art scene, Rodin's Thinker was taken up and the mural The Modern Thinker implemented.

Similar sculptures

Repetitive portrayals of individuals, both male and female, have been depicted in physical form while in the process of contemplation or grieving.

The "Karditsa Thinker" is a Neolithic clay figurine found in the area of Karditsa in Thessaly, Greece. This unique artifact, dated around 3900 BCE, during the Final Neolithic period (4500-3300 BCE), is a large solid clay figurine of a seated man. Despite some clumsiness in detail, it conveys the impression of a robust man looking upwards with a manly bearing. The figurine exhibits features of fully developed sculpture and is considered the largest Neolithic artifact found in Greece. The pronounced ithyphallic element, though mostly broken, along with its size, suggests a possible cultic character, possibly representing an agrarian deity associated with the fertility of the land. [10] [11]

The Thinker from Yehud, also known as the Thinker of Palestine, [12] is an archaeological figurine discovered during salvage excavations in the Israeli city of Yehud. The figurine, which sits atop a ceramic jug in a posture resembling "The Thinker", dates back to the Middle Bronze Age II Palestine (c. 1800–1600 BCE). It was found in a tomb accompanied by various items, including daggers, spearheads, an axe head, a knife, two male sheep, and a donkey, all likely buried as offerings. After its discovery, the broken jug had to be stabilised and restored before being displayed in the Canaanite Galleries of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. [13]

The "Thinker of Cernavodă", Romania, a terracotta sculpture, and its female counterpart, "The Sitting Woman", are works of art from the Chalcolithic era. The Hamangia culture produced these remarkable sculptures, with The Thinker believed to be the earliest prehistoric sculpture that conveys human self-reflection instead of the more common artistic themes of hunting or fertility. [14] [15] The discovery of the Spong Man, which is the earliest known Anglo-Saxon sculpture of a person, was found in Europe's other end, five millennia. [16] The sculpture takes the form of a seated figure on a pottery lid of a cremation urn, resembling a humanoid figure. [17]

A thousand years later, Michelangelo created the tomb of Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino, which is located in the Basilica di San Lorenzo in Florence, Italy. The tomb is a sculptural masterpiece and was commissioned by Pope Clement VII to honor the memory of the Duke of Urbino, a member of the powerful Medici family of Florence. The tomb is considered one of Michelangelo's finest works in sculpture and was created in the Mannerist style of the Late Renaissance period. [18] The tomb features a large rectangular base, which is adorned with intricate reliefs and two sculptures, Dusk and Dawn, that represent the cycle of life. [19] The central figure on the tomb is a sculpture of the Duke, who is portrayed as a thinker with his face in shadow and his elbow resting on a money box with a similarly muscular, contemplative figure with his hand on his chin, though the figure is seated rather than standing like Rodin's "The Thinker". The tomb also includes two reclining figures on the sarcophagus that are believed to represent Day and Night. [20]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Auguste Rodin</span> French sculptor (1840–1917)

François Auguste René Rodin was a French sculptor generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a unique ability to model a complex, turbulent, and deeply pocketed surface in clay. He is known for such sculptures as The Thinker, Monument to Balzac, The Kiss, The Burghers of Calais, and The Gates of Hell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michelangelo</span> Italian artist, architect and poet (1475–1564)

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspired by models from classical antiquity and had a lasting influence on Western art. Michelangelo's creative abilities and mastery in a range of artistic arenas define him as an archetypal Renaissance man, along with his rival and elder contemporary, Leonardo da Vinci. Given the sheer volume of surviving correspondence, sketches, and reminiscences, Michelangelo is one of the best-documented artists of the 16th century. He was lauded by contemporary biographers as the most accomplished artist of his era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sculpture</span> Artworks that are three-dimensional objects

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Thinker or The Thinker may refer to:

<i>The Gates of Hell</i> Sculpture by Auguste Rodin

The Gates of Hell is a monumental bronze sculptural group work by French artist Auguste Rodin that depicts a scene from the Inferno, the first section of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. It stands at 6 metres high, 4 metres wide and 1 metre deep (19.7×13.1×3.3 ft) and contains 180 figures.

<i>Madonna of the Stairs</i> Sculpture by Michelangelo

The Madonna of the Stairs is a relief sculpture by Michelangelo in the Casa Buonarroti, Florence. It was sculpted around 1490, when Michelangelo was about fifteen. This and the Battle of the Centaurs were Michelangelo's first two sculptures. The first reference to the Madonna of the Stairs as a work by Michelangelo was in the 1568 edition of Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects.

<i>The Agony and the Ecstasy</i> (novel) 1961 novel by Irving Stone

The Agony and the Ecstasy (1961) is a biographical novel of Michelangelo Buonarroti written by American author Irving Stone. Stone lived in Italy for years visiting many of the locations in Rome and Florence, worked in marble quarries, and apprenticed himself to a marble sculptor. A primary source for the novel is Michelangelo's correspondence, all 495 letters of which Stone had translated from Italian by Charles Speroni and published in 1962 as I, Michelangelo, Sculptor. Stone also collaborated with Canadian sculptor Stanley Lewis, who researched Michelangelo's carving technique and tools. The Italian government lauded Stone with several honorary awards for his cultural achievements highlighting Italian history.

<i>The Age of Bronze</i> Sculpture by Auguste Rodin

The Age of Bronze is a bronze statue by the French sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840–1917). The figure is of a life-size nude male, 72 in. (182.9 cm) high. Rodin continued to produce casts of the statue for several decades after it was modelled in 1876.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michelangelo and the Medici</span> The artists relationship with the Medici family

Michelangelo had a complicated relationship with the Medici family, who were for most of his lifetime the effective rulers of his home city of Florence. The Medici rose to prominence as Florence's preeminent bankers. They amassed a sizable fortune some of which was used for patronage of the arts. Michelangelo's first contact with the Medici family began early as a talented teenage apprentice of the Florentine painter Domenico Ghirlandaio. Following his initial work for Lorenzo de' Medici, Michelangelo's interactions with the family continued for decades including the Medici papacies of Pope Leo X and Pope Clement VII.

<i>Portrait of Giuliano de Medici, Duke of Nemours</i> Marble sculpture by Michelangelo

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<i>Cybele</i> (sculpture) Sculpture by Auguste Rodin

Cybele is a sculpture by French artist Auguste Rodin. It is one of the first of Rodin's partial figures known as "fragments" to be displayed as sculpture in its own right, rather than an incomplete study.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">French sculpture</span>

French sculpture has been an original and influential component of world art since the Middle Ages. The first known French sculptures date to the Upper Paleolithic age. French sculpture originally copied ancient Roman models, then found its own original form in the decoration of Gothic architecture. French sculptors produced important works of Baroque sculpture for the decoration of the Palace of Versailles. In the 19th century, the sculptors Auguste Rodin and Edgar Degas created a more personal and non-realistic style, which led the way to modernism in the 20th century, and the sculpture of Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Marcel Duchamp and Jean Arp.

<i>Iris, Messenger of the Gods</i> Sculpture by Auguste Rodin

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italian Renaissance sculpture</span>

Italian Renaissance sculpture was an important part of the art of the Italian Renaissance, in the early stages arguably representing the leading edge. The example of Ancient Roman sculpture hung very heavily over it, both in terms of style and the uses to which sculpture was put. In complete contrast to painting, there were many surviving Roman sculptures around Italy, above all in Rome, and new ones were being excavated all the time, and keenly collected. Apart from a handful of major figures, especially Michelangelo and Donatello, it is today less well-known than Italian Renaissance painting, but this was not the case at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sagrestia Nuova</span> Chapel in San Lorenzo, Florence, Italy

The Sagrestia Nuova, also known as the New Sacristy and the Medici Chapel, is a mausoleum that stands as a testament to the grandeur and artistic vision of the Medici family. Constructed in 1520, the mausoleum was designed by the Italian artist Michelangelo. Situated adjacent to the Basilica di San Lorenzo in Florence, Italy, the Sagrestia Nuova forms an integral part of the museum complex known as the Medici Chapels.

<i>Karditsa Thinker</i> Neolithic clay figurine

The Karditsa Thinker, or the Thinker of Karditsa, is a Neolithic clay figurine found in the area of Karditsa in Thessaly, Greece. This artifact, dating back to the Final Neolithic period, is a solid clay figurine of a seated man. It conveys the impression of a man looking upwards, and his hand is supporting his head which suggests a person who is thinking.

<i>Thinker from Yehud</i> Middle Bronze Age clay figurine

The Thinker from Yehud, also known as the Thinker of Palestine, is an archaeological figurine discovered during salvage excavations in the Israeli city of Yehud. The figurine, which sits atop a ceramic jug in a posture resembling Rodin's famous sculpture "The Thinker," dates back to the Middle Bronze Age II Palestine. It was found in a tomb accompanied by various items, including daggers, spearheads, an axe head, a knife, two male sheep, and a donkey, all likely buried as offerings. After its discovery, the broken jug had to be stabilised and restored before being displayed in the Canaanite Galleries of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Elsen, Albert L., Rodin's Gates of Hell, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis Minnesota, 1960 p. 96.
  2. ↑ "The Thinker by Auguste Rodin". www.thehistoryofart.org.
  3. ↑ Brocvielle, Vincent, Le Petit Larousse de l'Histore de l'Art(in French), (2010), pg. 240.
  4. ↑ "Rodin's the Thinker to sell for up to €14m". 7 April 2022.
  5. ↑ "Alexis Rudier casts". 2011-07-19. Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2023-04-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ↑ Clausius, Claudia (1989). The gentleman is a tramp : Charlie Chaplin's comedy. New York: P. Lang. p. 127. ISBN   0-8204-0459-4. OCLC   17776035.
  7. ↑ Insdorf, Annette (2003). Indelible Shadows: Film and the Holocaust. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-01630-8.
  8. ↑ "Quotes from "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian"". IMDb. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  9. ↑ Edelstein, David (10 August 2007). "Stardust - Death at a Funeral - The 11th Hour - Manda Bala -- New York Magazine Movie Review - Nymag". New York Magazine. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  10. ↑ "The Thinker". ancient-greece.org. Retrieved 2023-06-30.
  11. ↑ "Photo-National Archaeological Museum - Neollithic Thinker from Karditsa". www.athensguide.com. Retrieved 2023-06-30.
  12. ↑ Ζηνων (2017-09-11). "Αυτόχθονες Έλληνες: ΟΙ ΤΡΕΙΣ ΣΤΟΧΑΣΤΕΣ, ΤΗΣ ΚΑΡΔΙΤΣΑΣ, ΤΗΣ ΠΑΛΑΙΣΤΙΝΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΤΟΥ ΡΟΝΤΕΝ". Αυτόχθονες Έλληνες. Retrieved 2023-06-30.
  13. ↑ "4000-year-old Version of Rodin's 'Thinker' Found in Israel". Haaretz. Retrieved 2023-06-30.
  14. ↑ ""The Thinker" and "Sitting Woman", the symbols of the Neolithic culture of Hamangia. – Romania Color". Archived from the original on 2023-04-03. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
  15. ↑ Coca, Madalina Cristiana (2022), "Cernavoda—CANDU nuclear power plants in Romania", Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors, Elsevier, pp. 429–441, doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-822054-2.00007-6, ISBN   9780128220542, S2CID   241284395 , retrieved 2023-04-03
  16. ↑ "Spong Man". British Library collections. Archived from the original on 28 December 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  17. ↑ "Object: Funerary urn (collection)". norfolkmuseumscollections.org. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
  18. ↑ "Tomb of Lorenzo de Medici, 1524 - 1531 - Michelangelo - WikiArt.org". www.wikiart.org. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
  19. ↑ "Tomb of Giuliano de' Medici by MICHELANGELO Buonarroti". www.wga.hu. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
  20. ↑ "Grande Arte • A Digital Library for Art Lovers • Michelangelo • THE TOMB OF GIULIANO DE' MEDICI". grandearte.net. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
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