The Gates of Hell

Artist: Auguste Rodin, cast by Alexis Rudier

Media: Bronze

Date: Modeled 1880-1917; Cast 1926-28

Dimensions: 20 feet 10 3/4 inches x 13 feet 2 inches x 33 3/8 inches

“In 1880 Rodin was commissioned to create a set of bronze doors for a new museum in Paris. Inspired by The Divine Comedy, written by Dante Alighieri (Italian, c. 1265–1324), Rodin planned to decorate the doors with characters that Dante met on his fictional journey through hell. The sculptor eventually discarded the idea of a strict narrative and instead created a weightless, chaotic world filled with more than 200 figures in the throes of pain and despair. Although the planned museum never came to fruition, Rodin worked on the sculpture for nearly thirty-seven years, periodically adding, removing, or modifying elements on it.”

Auguste Rodin was born November 12, 1840. He attended Petite Ecole in Paris for decorative arts. He had applied for renowned Ecole des Beaux-Arts three times but was rejected each time. Rodin became interlocked with controversy when he cast a bronze statue without the use of a live model. Nobody believed he did such a thing because his work was believed to be too realistic. He was commissioned to build the doorway to the future Museum of Decorative Art but he died before he could finish it. That doorway was the “Gates of Hell”. He died November 17, 1917.

             
This doorway was originally intended to display the sites that Dante saw through his trip in the nine circles of hell, however the artist thought that was too complex and decided to generalize it by just displaying a slew of demons, which is a part of the theme. I chose this work because it shows how demons and the idea of hell are even embedded in permanent structures like buildings.