Rodin's Gates of Hell

In class we discussed the Gates of Hell and how famous they are, and Mrs. King mentioned how there are lots of artistic depictions of them (there's tons of art based on Dante, so this isn't too surprising). Probably the most famous example of the Gates of Hell is Rodin's monumental sculpture. Rodin was a incredibly important and talented french sculptor in the late 1800s and early 20th century, who you might recognize as the sculptor of The Thinker. His sculpture basically laid the foundation for modern sculpture, so he is a really influential artist.

Perhaps his most ambitious work, the Gates of Hell depicts many scenes from Inferno. The work is really monumental, standing almost 20 feet tall and containing many figures representing characters from Inferno. Many of the figures were later redone as larger sculptures, including The Thinker, who either represents Dante thinking about his work, Rodin contemplating Dante's work, or maybe even Adam; The Kiss, which shows Paolo and Francesca, who are depicted elsewhere on the gates, kissing; and The Three Shades, a group of three condemned souls who pointed at an inscription of the quote "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." Other characters from Inferno depicted include Ugolino, who comes in a later canto.

Unfortunately for Rodin, the museum that the Gates were commissioned for ended up never being built, but there are still several copies of the Gates in existence. The original plastic version is now at the Museum d'Orsay, and there are several bronze copies at museums such as the Rodin Museum in Paris (highly recommended if you are in Paris) and a Rodin museum in Philadelphia. Below are some pictures of the Gates as well as some of the major figures. I think this Rodin work is really ambitious and impressive in its detail, so it's interesting to look at it now with more context from reading the work that inspired it.