THE REAL LIVEJOURNAL IDOL -- SEASON 10, WEEK 13
DAMNABLE KNOWLEDGE
I've seen The Gates of Hell, and what lies beyond them is utterly fascinating to me. At least that's true for the Gate in Philadelphia; I can't honestly comment on the other Gates scattered around the globe, but last year I had the pleasure of escorting several members of my family to the one in Philly. Admittedly we didn't actually walk through The Gates (as they have been sealed shut for several years) and we had to take the side entrance to see what lay on the other side... but my relatives were so enraptured by what they found that they were in no hurry to leave: My sister Anne spent quite some time simply gazing at the features of Victor Hugo, whereas my sister Mary was mesmerized by the features of Emile Zola. Sadly, we weren't allowed to stay as long as we would have liked and were forced to leave before we were quite done, though I must admit we were all getting rather hungry because it was nearly dinner time. Still, as we left the grounds I took the time to gaze at the pensive face of the giant seated before the portal and tried to fathom exactly what he was pondering, as well as why he had a smaller yet identical counterpart perched on the lintel above The Gates behind him...
I have been deeply interested in the works of the sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) since my early childhood. As noted in his Wikipedia article, the man is now considered to be "the progenitor of modern scupture", though by most accounts he had no intention of breaking with tradition when he started his career; his single greatest innovation was to display the human form in much more realistic terms than his predecessors.
Rodin's best-known piece is now called The Thinker (Le Penseur), though it was originally entitled The Poet (Le Poète).
The sculpture has become truly iconic, having been imitated and parodied countless times, and is now almost universally recognized as the symbol for philosophy. And yet, most people today are blissfully unaware that this sculpture originated as just one small part of a much larger and far darker work.
In 1880 Rodin was commissioned by France's Directorate of Fine Arts to produce an "inviting entrance" for a planned Decorative Arts museum, and the theme of the piece was left for Rodin to decide. The museum, which was supposed to have opened in 1885, was never built... which is just as well, as Rodin did not complete the work in time. Indeed, the man continued to work on the project on and off for 37 years, and only completed it shortly before his death. In retrospect it is not at all surprising that it took Rodin so long to finish his masterpiece, as what he dreamed up was truly monumental in scope: a set of bronze doors, 6 meters tall by 4 meters wide by 1 meter deep (19.7×13.1×3.3 ft) which contains a total of 180 figures from history, myth and legend... and all based upon Dante Alighieri's epic poem Inferno.
The name of Rodin's piece was La Porte de l'Enfer, or to translate into English: The Gates of Hell.
Rodin only created a plaster model of the piece while he was alive, but before he died he donated his possessions to the French government, along with permission to reproduce his works as they saw fit. Initially only 3 copies of La Porte de l'Enfer were cast in bronze... and one of those copies now adorns the main entrance of The Rodin Museum in Philadelphia, which contains the largest collection of the man's work outside of Paris. Admittedly the huge sculpture can only truly be appreciated when the doors are closed, so several years ago the museum management decided to keep The Gate permanently shut, and all visitors now must enter the building through a smaller side-entrance. However, that also means that you can appreciate Rodin's masterpiece without having to pay the museum's entry fee. (This museum also has a large bronze of The Thinker situated in front of the main entrance, so you can see that free of charge as well.)
Although Rodin also supported himself by creating busts of various French dignitaries, he spent so much time on this one particular work that he ended up creating other pieces based on the various images that were to be festooned upon the doorway. Rodin frequently enlarged the figures in question before recasting them as independent sculptures, although he also created replicas which were the same size as the ones to be mounted upon the doors. A few of the better known pieces derived from his masterwork are The Kiss (Le Baiser) and The Three Shades (Les Trois Ombres). However, perched above the center of the doorway is the figure which has come to be known as The Thinker; it is positioned so that the man is gazing downward at the damned souls as they enter Hell.
There is a fair amount of debate as to who this figure is meant to represent, as Rodin did not leave a clear explanation behind in his notes. There are three particularly popular opinions regarding this matter: Many believe the figure represents Rodin himself, looking upon the denizens of Hell in order to gain inspiration for his masterpiece, while other people believe that the figure represents Dante Alighieri, and the fact that Rodin initially entitled the piece The Poet lends a great deal of weight to this interpretation. However, I myself favor a third explanation:
The figure atop The Gates of Hell is Adam, and his punishment is to spend eternity being forced to watch so many of his descendants entering damnation... and knowing that he is ultimately responsible for their downfall because he ate the forbidden fruit.
I have read that in recent years the French government has cast more bronze copies of La Porte de l'Enfer, and these newer versions can be found in Zurich, Seoul and Mexico City... as well as several other places. If you should ever have the opportunity to see one of these copies with your own eyes, I strongly recommend that you do so; pictures simply do not do the piece justice. So please take the time and effort to research this matter. Who knows, you just might just find The Gates of Hell in your own home town if you look hard enough...
This post is an entry for THE REAL LIVEJOURNAL IDOL (therealljidol), Season 10, Week 13. It is based on the prompt "Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here".
You can find all the pieces written by my fellow competitors and vote for the ones you like by clicking here.