The Thinker

The Thinker was originally conceived as a much smaller figure known as The Poet. In this initial design, the figure was intended to sit at the top of a monumental set of bronze doors titled The Gates of Hell. These doors were commissioned for a Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris that was never actually built. As a result, the sprawling composition remained a work in progress for decades, while this individual figure began to take on a life of its own.