The Gates of Hell
Monumental bronze sculptural group depicting Dante's Inferno.
Auguste Rodin’s *The Gates of Hell* (*La Porte de l’Enfer*) is a large bronze sculpture showing a scene from the *Inferno*, the opening part of Dante Alighieri’s *Divine Comedy*. The work measures 6 meters high, 4 meters wide, and 1 meter deep, and includes 180 figures. Multiple casts exist in different places worldwide; the original plaster model is kept at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.
The piece was commissioned in 1880 by the Directorate of Fine Arts, which wanted an inviting entrance for a planned Decorative Arts Museum and left the theme up to Rodin. Even before this, Rodin had sketched characters from Dante’s *Inferno* because he admired the poem. He worked on the project for thirty-seven years, constantly adding, removing, or altering more than two hundred human figures on the doors, until his death in 1917. The museum was never built. Rodin created the work on the ground floor of the Hôtel Biron. Near the end of his life, he donated sculptures, drawings, and reproduction rights to the French government. Two years after his death, in 1919, the Hôtel Biron became the Musée Rodin, housing a cast of *The Gates of Hell* and related works.
Rodin imagined people approaching the gates, perhaps climbing stairs, and being overwhelmed by the massive doors as they contemplated Dante’s vision of hell. He was especially influenced by Dante’s warning above the Inferno’s entrance: “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.” No work of this scope had been attempted before. Inspiration came from Lorenzo Ghiberti’s *Gates of Paradise* at the Baptistery of St. John in Florence, as well as medieval cathedrals that combined high and low relief. Rodin also drew from Michelangelo’s fresco *The Last Judgment*, Delacroix’s painting *The Barque of Dante*, Balzac’s *La Comédie humaine*, and Baudelaire’s poems *Les Fleurs du mal*. In an interview with *Le Matin*, Rodin said he spent a year living with Dante, drawing the eight circles of the Inferno, but then realized his drawings had become too remote from reality, so he started over, working from nature with models.
Several figures from the gates were later enlarged and became independent works. *The Thinker* (also called *The Poet*) sits above the door panels. Some think it represents Dante looking down at the characters, others that it is Rodin meditating on his composition, and still others that it is Adam contemplating the dest
- artist
- Auguste Rodin
- nationality
- French
- field
- Sculpture
- height
- 6 metres (19.7 ft)
- width
- 4 metres (13.1 ft)
- depth
- 1 metre (3.3 ft)
- figures
- 180
Lore & Background
The sculpture was commissioned by the Directorate of Fine Arts in 1880. Rodin worked on and off on this project for thirty-seven years, continuously adding, removing, or altering over two hundred human figures on the doors, 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's Inferno. The Decorative Arts Museum was never built. Rodin worked on this project on the ground floor of the Hôtel Biron. 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.
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 all hope, ye who enter here.' A work of the scope of The Gates of Hell had not been attempted before, but inspiration came from Lorenzo Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise at the Baptistery of St. John, Florence, 15th century bronze doors depicting figures from the Old Testament. Another source of inspiration was medieval cathedrals combining high and low relief. Rodin was also inspired by Michelangelo's fresco The Last Judgment, Delacroix's painting The Barque of Dante, Balzac's collection La Comédie humaine and Baudelaire's poems Les Fleurs du mal.
Reader's Guide
The Gates of Hell is a defining work of Auguste Rodin, representing his lifelong engagement with Dante's Inferno and his innovative approach to sculpture. The piece was originally commissioned as an entrance for a museum that was never built, yet Rodin continued to develop it for thirty-seven years, treating it as a laboratory for his artistic ideas. Many of its figures, such as The Thinker, The Kiss, and Ugolino and His Children, were later enlarged and cast as independent works, becoming iconic in their own right. The sculpture's combination of high and low relief, its dense composition of over 180 figures, and its thematic focus on human suffering and desire reflect Rodin's admiration for literary and artistic sources from Dante to Baudelaire. The work's multiple casts in museums worldwide, including the Musée Rodin in Paris and the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia, ensure its continued influence. The Gates of Hell remains a monumental achievement in bronze, demonstrating Rodin's ability to translate literary narrative into powerful visual form.
Did You Know?
- The Gates of Hell stands at 6 metres high, 4 metres wide and 1 metre deep.
- Rodin worked on the project for thirty-seven years, until his death in 1917.
- The original plaster model is displayed at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.
- Several figures from the gates, such as The Thinker and The Kiss, were later cast as independent free-standing statues.
More in Sculptures And Statues 1-24
Spotted an error? Know more?
This is a living reference — every entry is fact-audited, and reader corrections feed straight into our audit queue. Suggest an edit · See this site's audit record