Updated 17 April 2025
On Display Forecourt
The Thinker (Enlarged)
| Date | 1881-82 (model), 1902-03 (enlarged), 1926 (cast) |
|---|---|
| Materials and Techniques | bronze |
| Size（cm） | 186 x 102 x 144 |
| Inscriptions | Signed right side of base: A. Rodin; Foundry mark lower right back of base: Alexis Rudier / Fondeur Paris |
| Credit Line | Matsukata Collection |
| Standard ref. | M1288 |
| Category | Sculptures |
| Collection Number | S.1959-0040 |
Rodin made the following comment about The Thinker. "Dante sat down on the rock in front of the gates and became absorbed in poetic reverie. Behind him were Ugolino, Francesca, Paolo and all the other characters of the Divine Comedy. This plan was never realized. The anguished form of Dante's thin body isolated from the whole was meaningless. Following my initial inspiration, I then thought of another pensive figure. A naked man sits lost in thought on a rock, with both legs drawn up and his fist resting against his teeth. The work inspires a slow consideration of the beautiful thoughts that fill his head. He is not an idle dreamer. Rather, he is a creator."The physical expression and form of The Thinker, like Adam's, reveal the influence of Michelangelo. Figures such as the prophet Jeremiah in the Sistine Chapel ceiling frescos, and Lorenzo de Medici on the Medici tomb in San Lorenzo Chapel come to mind. Another work that exerted a direct influence was Carpeaux's Ugolino (1863). The image of the right elbow resting on the left thigh is surprisingly similar to Carpeaux's work. The work by Carpeaux, however, was actually executed in Rome under the direct influence of Michelangelo.This gigantic bronze figure was enlarged between 1902-04 by Rodin's collaborator Henri Lebossé on the basis of Rodin's model from 1880. The Thinker, set apart from The Gates of Hell, does not depict an individual thinking figure, but rather represents a universal image of mankind. (Source: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2009, cat. no. 133)
Provenance
Bought from Musée Rodin by Kojiro Matsukata, Kobe through Léonce Bénédite, ca. August 1919, as ‘Le Penseur, taille colossale’ (Fr. 50,000) [see several letters between Bénédite and Suzuki & Co., August 1919, in Archives of Rodin Museum, Paris; copy in NMWA curatorial files]; sequestered by French government, 1944; vested in French government under San Francisco Peace Treaty, 1952; transferred from French to Japanese government, 23 January 1959; entered into NMWA, April 1959.
Exhibition History
- 1966
- Rodin, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 23 July 1966 - 11 September 1966, cat. no. 18
- 1989
- Rodin et la Porte de l’Enfer (Rodin and the Gates of Hell), National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 21 October 1989 - 17 December 1989, cat. no. 7
Bibliography
- 1990
- The Old Matsukata Collection. Kobe City Museum, ed. Kobe, "Matsukata Korekushon Ten" Jikkoiinkai, 1990, cat. no. S-54.
- 2006
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2006 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 133, repr.
- 2009
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2009, no. 133, repr.
- 2013
- Masterpieces: The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2013 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 132, col. repr.
- 2019
- The Matsukata Collection: Complete Catalogue of the European Art. Kawaguchi, Masako; Jingaoka, Megumi, eds. vol. 2: Sculpture, Drawings, Prints and Decorative Arts and Other Works, Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2019, cat. no. 1288, col. repr.