11.22: Rodin, Gates of Hell

When the building that was earlier on what is now the site of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, was destroyed by fire during the Commune in 1871, plans were drawn up to replace it with a museum of decorative arts. Rodin won the competition to design a great set of doors for its entry way. Although the museum was never built, Rodin continued to work on the doors. They became an ongoing project; a grand stage for his sculptural ideas. It’s fitting that the plaster of this great unfinished sculpture, The Gates of Hell, is now on display at the d’Orsay, the former railway terminal that was built on this site instead of the museum of decorative arts and that, by lovely coincidence, was converted into one of the world’s great art museums.

Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker provide a description, historical perspective, and analysis of Rodin’s The Gates of Hell.

Auguste Rodin, The Gates of Hell​, 1880–1917, plaster (Musée d’Orsay, Paris)

---