Rodin's 'The Thinker'

More than any other Rodin sculpture, The Thinker moved into the popular imagination, as an immediately recognizable icon of intellectual activity. 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. 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. The sculpture is nude, as Rodin wanted a heroic figure in the tradition of Michelangelo, to represent intellect as well as poetry.