''The Gates of Hell'' (french: La Porte de l'Enfer) is a monumental bronze sculptural group work by French artist

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...

that depicts a scene from the ''

Inferno Inferno may refer to: * Hell, an afterlife place of suffering * Conflagration, a large uncontrolled fire Film * ''L'Inferno'', a 1911 Italian film * ''Inferno'' (1953 film), a film noir by Roy Ward Baker * ''Inferno'' (1973 film), a German t ...

'', the first section of Dante Alighieri's ''

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature a ...

''. It stands at 6 metres high, 4 metres wide and 1 metre deep () and contains 180 figures. The figures range from high up to more than one metre (3 ft). Several of the figures were also cast as independent free-standing statues.

History

The sculpture was commissioned by the Directorate of Fine Arts in 1880 and was meant to be delivered in 1885. Rodin would continue to work on and off on this project for 37 years, until his death in 1917. The Directorate asked for an inviting entrance to a planned Decorative Arts Museum with the theme being left to Rodin's selection. Even before this commission, Rodin had developed sketches of some of Dante's characters based on his admiration of

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian people, Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', origin ...

's ''

''. The Decorative Arts Museum was never built. Rodin worked on this project on the ground floor of the

Hôtel Biron The Hôtel Biron, known initially as the Hôtel Peyrenc-de-Moras and later as the Hôtel du Maine, is an ''hôtel particulier'' located at 77 rue de Varenne, in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, that was built from 1727 to 1732 to the designs of t ...

. Near the end of his life, Rodin donated sculptures, drawings and reproduction rights to the French government. In 1919, two years after his death, the Hôtel Biron became the Musée Rodin, housing a cast of ''The Gates of Hell'' and related works.

Inspiration

Rodin conceived that people would walk toward the work, perhaps up a flight of stairs, and be overwhelmed frontally by the massive gates, contemplating the experience of hell that Dante describes in his ''Inferno''. Rodin thought particularly of Dante's warning over the entrance of the Inferno, "Abandon every hope, who enter here." A work of the scope of ''The Gates of Hell'' had not been attempted before, but inspiration came from

Lorenzo Ghiberti Lorenzo Ghiberti (, , ; 1378 – 1 December 1455), born Lorenzo di Bartolo, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Florence, a key figure in the Early Renaissance, best known as the creator of two sets of bronze doors of the Florence Baptiste ...

's '' Gates of Paradise'' at the Baptistery of St. John,

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico a ...

, 15th century bronze doors depicting figures from the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

. Another source of inspiration was medieval cathedrals combining high and low relief. Rodin was also inspired by Michelangelo's fresco ''

The Last Judgment The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...

'', Delacroix's painting ''

The Barque of Dante ''The Barque of Dante'' (), also ''Dante and Virgil in Hell'' (''Dante et Virgile aux enfers''), is the first major painting by the French artist Eugène Delacroix, and is a work signalling the shift in the character of narrative painting, from ...

'', Balzac's collection ''

La Comédie humaine LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

'' and Baudelaire's poems ''

Les Fleurs du mal ''Les Fleurs du mal'' (; en, The Flowers of Evil, italic=yes) is a volume of French poetry by Charles Baudelaire. ''Les Fleurs du mal'' includes nearly all Baudelaire's poetry, written from 1840 until his death in August 1867. First publis ...

''. In an article in ''Le Matin'', Rodin said: "For a whole year I lived with Dante, with him alone, drawing the eight circles of his inferno. ..At the end of this year, I realized that while my drawing rendered my vision of Dante, they had become too remote from reality. So I started all over again, working from nature, with my models."

Gallery

Zürich - Kunsthaus - Rodin's Höllentor IMG 7384 ShiftN.jpg, The Kunsthaus Zürich in Zurich Porte de l'enfer Musée d'Orsay 01.jpg,

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) ( en, Orsay Museum) is a museum in Paris, France, on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Rodin's The Gates of Hell - panoramio.jpg,

The National Museum of Western Art The is the premier public art gallery in Japan specializing in art from the Western tradition. The museum is in the museum and zoo complex in Ueno Park in Taitō, central Tokyo. It received 1,162,345 visitors in 2016. History The NMWA was e ...

in Ueno Park, Tokyo The Gates of Hell Philadelphia.jpg, The

Rodin Museum The Rodin Museum is an art museum located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that contains one of the largest collections of sculptor Auguste Rodin's works outside Paris. Opened in 1929, the museum is administered by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. T ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

Rodin gates.JPG, The Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

Outstanding figures

The original sculptures were enlarged and became works of art of their own. * ''

The Thinker ''The Thinker'' (french: Le Penseur) is a bronze sculpture by Auguste Rodin, usually placed on a stone pedestal. The work depicts a nude male figure of heroic size sitting on a rock. He is seen leaning over, his right elbow placed on his left t ...

'' (''Le Penseur''), also called ''The Poet'', is located above the door panels. One interpretation suggests that it might represent Dante looking down to the characters in the Inferno. Another interpretation is that the ''Thinker'' is Rodin himself meditating about his composition. Others believe that the figure may be Adam, contemplating the destruction brought upon mankind because of his sin. * '' The Kiss'' (''Le Baiser'') was originally in ''The Gate'' along with other figures of Paolo and

Francesca da Rimini Francesca da Rimini or Francesca da Polenta (died between 1283 and 1286) was a medieval noblewoman of Ravenna, who was murdered by her husband, Giovanni Malatesta, upon his discovery of her affair with his brother, Paolo Malatesta. She was a ...

. Rodin wanted to represent their initial joy as well as their final damnation. He removed the figure that became known as '' The Kiss'' because it seemed to conflict with the other suffering figures. * '' Ugolino and His Children'' (''Ugolin et ses enfants'') depicts

Ugolino della Gherardesca Ugolino della Gherardesca (March 1289), Count of Donoratico, was an Italian nobleman, politician and naval commander. He was frequently accused of treason and features prominently in Dante's ''Divine Comedy''. Biography In the 13th century, the ...

, who according to the story, ate the corpses of his children after they died by starvation (Dante, ''

'', Canto XXXIII). The Ugolino group was cast as a separate bronze in 1882. * '' The Three Shades'' (''Les Trois Ombres'') was originally 98 cm high. The over-life size group was initially made of three independent figures in 1899. Later on, Rodin replaced one hand in the figures to fuse them together, in the same form as the smaller version. The figures originally pointed to the phrase "Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate" ("Abandon all hope, ye who enter here") from Canto III of the ''

''. * '' Fleeting Love'' (''Fugit Amor'') is located on the right door pane, it is one of several figures of lovers that represent Paolo and

. The male figure is also called ''The Prodigal''. * '' Paolo and Francesca'' is shown on the left door pane. Paolo tries to reach Francesca, who seems to slip away. * ''

Meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...

'' appears on the rightmost part of the tympanum, shown as an enlarged figure in 1896. * ''The Old Courtesan'' is a bronze cast from 1910 of an aged, naked female body. The sculpture is also called ''She Who Was Once the Helmet-Maker's Beautiful Wife'' (''Celle qui fut la belle heaulmière''). This title is taken from a poem by

François Villon François Villon (Modern French: , ; – after 1463) is the best known French poet of the Late Middle Ages. He was involved in criminal behavior and had multiple encounters with law enforcement authorities. Villon wrote about some of these ex ...

. * ''Fallen Caryatid Carrying Her Stone'' is based on the figure at the top of the left pilaster. Around 1881 Rodin enlarged her and gave her a stone. * '' I Am Beautiful'' (''Je suis belle''), cast in 1882, is among the second set of figures on the extreme right portion of the door. * '' Eternal Springtime'' (''L'Éternel printemps'') was cast in 1884. It exists in several separate versions, both in marble and in bronze. * '' Despair'' is found in various versions on both the left and right door panes. * '' Kneeling Female Faun'' was conceived around 1884 and first cast in 1887. It is found on the left side of the tympanum, in front of the bas-reliefs which form the background. * ''Adam and Eve''. Rodin asked the directorate for additional funds for the independent sculptures of ''

Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as ...

'' and ''

Eve Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...

'' that were meant to frame ''The Gates of Hell''. However, Rodin found he could not get Eve's figure right. Consequently, several figures of Eve were made, none of which were used, and all of them were later sold. Most of the individual figures portrayed on the gates do not originate in Dante. Rodin's sculptures are not illustrations of scenes from ''Inferno''. Rather, Rodin “reinvented” Dante's hell to include figures who personified his own conception. Dante's Adam and Eve, for example, are in Paradise, thought to have been “rescued” from eternal damnation by Christ on Holy Saturday in the Harrowing of Hell. The three shades are a transformation of three sinners whom Dante encounters in the Seventh Circle of murderers, suicides and homosexuals, all included among the violent against others, self and nature. Other figures are either fully invented by Rodin or derive from other literary sources.

Locations

The original plaster was restored in 1917 and is displayed at the

. A series of plaster casts illustrating the development of the work is on view at the

Musée Rodin The Musée Rodin ( en, Rodin Museum) in Paris, France, is a museum that was opened in 1919, primarily dedicated to the works of the French sculptor Auguste Rodin. It has two sites: the Hôtel Biron and surrounding grounds in central Paris, a ...

Meudon Meudon () is a municipality in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is in the département of Hauts-de-Seine. It is located from the center of Paris. The city is known for many historic monuments and some extraordinary trees. One of t ...

. Also in 1917, a model was used to make the original three bronze casts: * The

. * The

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since 1 ...

. * The

National Museum of Western Art The is the premier public art gallery in Japan specializing in art from the Western tradition. The museum is in the museum and zoo complex in Ueno Park in Taitō, central Tokyo. It received 1,162,345 visitors in 2016. History The NMWA was e ...

in Ueno Park, Tokyo. Subsequent bronzes have been distributed by the Musée Rodin to a number of locations, including: * The

Kunsthaus Zürich The Kunsthaus Zürich is in terms of area the biggest art museum of Switzerland and houses one of the most important art collections in Switzerland, assembled over the years by the local art association called '. The collection spans from the Midd ...

, Zurich * The Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at

* The Plateau,

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic of ...

Museo Soumaya The Museo Soumaya is a private museum in Mexico City and a non-profit cultural institution with two museum buildings in Mexico City — Plaza Carso and Plaza Loreto. It has over 66,000 works from 30 centuries of art including sculptures from Pre- ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of M ...

References

External links

*
La Porte de l'Enfer
', a tool for exploring ''The Gates of Hell'' by the Musée Rodin *
Rodin: The B. Gerald Cantor Collection
', a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on ''The Gates of Hell'' *

Octave Mirbeau Octave Mirbeau (16 February 1848 – 16 February 1917) was a French novelist, art critic, travel writer, pamphleteer, journalist and playwright, who achieved celebrity in Europe and great success among the public, whilst still appealing to the l ...

« Auguste Rodin »

Gates of Hell''
Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at

, Object Number 1985.86, bronze cast No. 5. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gates of Hell, The Sculptures by Auguste Rodin Sculptures of the Musée Rodin Gates Sculptures of the Musée d'Orsay 1917 sculptures Bronze sculptures in France Bronze sculptures in Japan Bronze sculptures in the United Kingdom Bronze sculptures in the United States Bronze doors Cultural depictions of Adam and Eve Works based on Inferno (Dante)