The Travelling Celts

Seeing the Thinker

by Michael Cameron

François Rodin was a french man, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed the ability to model a complex, turbulent, and deeply pocketed surface in clay. He is known for such sculptures as The Thinker, Monument to Balzac, The Kiss, The Burghers of Calais, and The Gates of Hell. He modeled the human body with naturalism, and his sculptures celebrate individual character and physicality. Although Rodin was sensitive to the controversy surrounding his work, he refused to change his style, and his continued output brought increasing favor.

The Musée Rodin in Paris, France, was opened in 1919, primarily dedicated to the works of Rodin. It has two sites: the Hôtel Biron and surrounding grounds in central Paris, as well as just outside Paris at Rodin's old home, the Villa des Brillants at Meudon, Hauts-de-Seine. The collection includes 6,600 sculptures, 8,000 drawings, 8,000 old photographs and 7,000 objets d’art. While living in the Villa des Brillants, Rodin used the Hôtel Biron as his workshop from 1908, and subsequently donated his entire collection of sculptures – along with paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir that he had acquired – to the French State on the condition that they turn the buildings into a museum dedicated to his works. The Musée Rodin contains most of Rodin's significant creations, including The Thinker, The Kiss and The Gates of Hell. Many of his sculptures are displayed in the museum's extensive garden. The gardens around the museum building contain many of the famous sculptures in natural settings. Behind the museum building are a small lake and casual restaurant.

We spent a few hours at the Paris museum, including having lunch in said restaurant.

Napoleon I had been buried on Saint Helena Island since 1821, and in 1840 King Louis-Philippe decided to have his remains transferred to Les Dome des Invalides in Paris. Major excavation work was required in order to fit the tomb inside the Dome, The body of the Emperor Napoleon was finally laid to rest there on 2 April 1861. It was a short walk (five minutes) from the Rodin Museum to the Dome, so we thought why not. It was, as it turned out, worth a visit, some of the statues were amazing to look at. I've also been to Wellington's tomb in St. Paul's Cathedral, and whilst grand in itself, Napoleon seems to have fared a little better in the memorial stakes.

Click the links below for the Rodin Museum photos and/or videos