One of the many things on my Paris “hope to see” list was the Musee Rodin.  Because we had a mile-long list of things to see today and because I was the only one with this on their must-see list, we opted to make this a very quick stop (as in probably only 30 minutes) after our Fat Tire Bike Tour and before our visit to the Musee d’Orsay.

While researching Paris museums, I read the following quote about Rodin and the Gardens on the above linked website, “As Rodin himself knew, the appreciation of works of art is heightened by nature—and that is the goal of the Rodin Gardens.”

I tend to be an all or nothing type person so it took much effort on my part to whittle things down to those which would give us an overview of many things yet not have us missing out on something which is a *must see*.  The above quote helped me determine it was OK to stop by the Garden  to view only one or two of Rodin’s sculptures instead of dragging everyong through the entire museum.  (Some day I’ll have to return a week ahead of everyone else so I can take in all the museums I want – lol).  The Garden tickets were only 1 euro for adults and the kids were all free so it was a GREAT PRICE for getting to sit at the feet of the THINKER if even just for a few minutes.

The quotes below all come from the Rodin Museum website referenced above.

The sculpture “depicts a man in sober meditation battling with a powerful internal struggle which is often used to represent philosophy.”

“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 and entitled the portal The Gates of Hell. 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. (In the final sculpture, a miniature of the statue sits atop the gates, pondering the hellish fate of those beneath him.) The sculpture is nude, as Rodin wanted a heroic figure in the tradition of Michelangelo, to represent intellect as well as poetry.”

“Rodin made a first small plaster version around 1880. The first large-scale bronze cast was finished in 1902, but not presented to the public until 1904. It became the property of the city of Paris – thanks to a subscription organized by Rodin admirers – and was put in front of the Panthéon in 1906. In 1922, it was moved to the Hôtel Biron, which was transformed into a Rodin Museum.”

We each took a turn posing as “THE THINKER.”

   Emily…..