"The Thinker" (French: "Le Penseur") is one of Auguste Rodin's famous bronze sculptures. It depicts a man in somber meditation battling with a powerful internal struggle. It's sometimes 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. 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. Over twenty casts of the sculpture are in museums around the world. Some of these copies are enlarged versions of the original work as well as sculptures of different scales.

Original photo at : https://www.flickr.com/photos/jdredding/329410904/ J. D. Redding 09:23, 15 February 2007 (UTC)