The Gates of Hell

It was a very November day today. It started dark, got wet and windy, stayed dark, proceeded through a gray period, got darker, and has just recently gotten really dark. It wasn't really too cold, but it never dried out. It was always dark and raw. It was November. But it wasn't really nasty enough to consider today to be the gates of hell.

The post caption refers to more artwork. Because it got a mention yesterday I today include my picture of the bronze copy of la Porte de l'Enfer from the garden at the Musée Rodin. The museum itself refers to this work as Rodin's monumental masterpiece. At least 10 of what today are considered to be individual works by Rodin, including both yesterday's Thinker and le Baiser (The Kiss), were originally conceived as elements of this work. The Kiss was removed after Rodin realized that the state of pure happiness portrayed in that sculpture did not really fit in with the rest of the composition of this work. However, the Thinker remains, set into the upper panel.

I had to wait for the photo as most photographers were getting a companion photographed with the work (for scale I assume). As I waited the Italian lady standing next to me breathed, "Bellisima". I speak less Italian than French but I know that word and I offered for comparison the English words, "Beautiful, indeed."

Rodin began the work on a commission in 1880 with a scheduled delivery date of 1885. He never finished, and would continue to work on and off on this project for 37 years, until his death in 1917.

The plaster original was restored in 1917 and is displayed at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. A series of plaster casts illustrating the development of the work is on view at Rodin's workshop in Meudon. Also in 1917, a model was used to make the original three bronze casts of which this is one. The others are at the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia and the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo.

Subsequent bronzes have been distributed by the Musée Rodin to a number of locations, including Zurich, Stanford University, and the Rodin Gallery in Seoul, Korea.