Benutzer:Kurator71/Das Höllentor

2009-03-23T17:31:18Z

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{{Otheruses4|the Rodin sculpture|other uses|Gates of Hell (disambiguation)}}

[[Image:Hoellentor.jpg|thumb|right|250px|''The Gates of Hell'', [[Musée Rodin]].]]

'''''La Porte de l'Enfer''''' (translated '''''The Gates of Hell''''') is a monumental sculptural group work by French artist [[Auguste Rodin]] that depicts a scene from "The Inferno", the first section of ''[[The Divine Comedy]]'' by [[Dante Alighieri]]. It stands at 6 m high, 4 m wide and 1 m deep (19.69'H × 13.12'W × 3.29'D) and contains 180 figures. The figures range from 15 cm high up to more than one metre. Several of the figures were also cast independently by Rodin.

==History==

The sculptural ensemble was commissioned by the Directorate of Fine Arts in 1880 and was meant to be delivered in 1885.
Rodin would continue to work on and off on this project for 37 years, 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 Alighieri|Dante]]'s ''[[The Divine Comedy|Inferno]]''{{Fact|date=November 2007}}.

The Decoratives 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.

==Inspiration for the Gates of Hell==

A work of the scope of the ''Gates of Hell'' had not been attempted before, but inspiration came from [[Lorenzo Ghiberti]]'s ''[[Florence Baptistry#Baptistry doors|Gates of Paradise]]'' at the [[Battistero di San Giovanni (Florence)|Baptistery of St. John]], [[Florence]]. The 15th century bronze doors depict figures from the [[Old Testament]].
Another source of inspiration were medieval cathedrals. Some of those combine both high and low relief.

==Outstanding figures==
[[Image:P5130085.JPG|thumb|right|250px|The Gates of Hell - [[Musée d'Orsay]].]]
The original sculptures were enlarged and became works of art of their own.

* '''[[The Thinker]]''' (''Le Penseur''), also called ''The Poet'', is located above the door panels. One interpretation suggests that it might represent Dante looking down to the characters in the Inferno. Another interpretation is that the Thinker is Rodin himself meditating about his composition. Others believe that the figure may be Adam, comtemplating the destruction brought upon mankind because of his sin.

* '''[[The Kiss (Rodin sculpture)|The Kiss]]''' (''Le Baiser'') was originally in ''The Gate'' along with other figures of ''Paolo and [[Francesca da Rimini]]''. Rodin wanted to represent their initial joy as well as their final damnation. He removed the figure that became known as [[The Kiss (Rodin sculpture)|The Kiss]] because it seemed to contrast along with the other suffering figures.

* '''Ugolino and His Children''' (''Ugolin et ses enfants'') depicts [[Ugolino della Gherardesca]], who according to the story, ate the corpses of his children after they died by starvation. (Dante, Inferno, Canto XXXII) The Ugolino group was cast as a separate bronze in 1882.

* '''The Three Shades''' (''Les trois Ombres''), which was originally 98 cm high. The over-life size group was initially made of three independent figures in 1899. Later on Rodin replaced one hand in the figures to fuse them together, in the same form as the smaller version.

* '''Fugitive Love''' (''Fugit Amor '') is located on the right door pane, it is one of several figures of lovers that represent Paolo and [[Francesca da Rimini]]. The male figure is also called ''The Prodigial''.

* '''Paolo and Francesca''' is shown on the left door pane. Paolo tries to reach Francesca, who seems to slip away.

* '''Meditation''' appears on the rightmost part of the [[tympanum (architecture)|Tympanum]], shown as an enlarged figure in 1896.

* '''The Old Courtesan''' is a bronze cast from 1910 of an aged, naked female body. The sculpture is also called ''She Who Was Once the Helmet-Maker's Beautiful Wife'' (Celle qui fut la belle heaulmière). This title is taken from a poem that was written by [[François Villon]].

* '''I Am Beautiful''' (''Je Suis Belle''), cast in 1882, is among the second set of figures on the extreme right portion of the door.

* '''Eternal Springtime''' was cast in 1884.

* '''Adam and Eve'''. Rodin asked the directorate for additional funds for the independent sculptures of ''Adam'' and ''Eve'' that were meant to frame ''The Gates of Hell''.

== Locations ==

The plaster original was restored in 1917 and is displayed at the [[Musée Rodin]] in [[Paris]]. A series of plaster casts illustrating the development of the work is on view at the [[Musée Rodin]] in [[Meudon]]. Also in 1917, a model was used to make the original three bronze casts:
* The [[Musée Rodin]], [[Paris]]:
* The [[Rodin Museum]], [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]].
* The [[The National Museum of Western Art|National Museum of Western Art]][http://www.nmwa.go.jp/] in [[Ueno Park]], [[Tokyo]].

Subsequent bronzes have been distributed by the Musée Rodin to a number of locations, including:
* The [[Kunsthaus Zürich]], [[Zurich]]
* The B. Gerald Cantor Rodin Sculpture Garden at [[Stanford University]]
* The Rodin Gallery, [[Seoul]], [[Korea]]

==External links==
{{Commonscat|La Porte de l'enfer|''The Gates of Hell''}}
* [http://www.musee-rodin.fr Musée Rodin], [[Paris]], France
* [http://canal-educatif.fr/Video/Arts/014-Porte-Enfer-Rodin/Anglais/Gates-Hell-Rodin.htm A free documentary about the Gates of Hell. Why did Rodin make two different gates and why they helped redefine the art of sculpture?]
* [http://www.rodinmuseum.org Rodin Museum], [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], USA
* [http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/utopia/circle2.html ''Alighieri, Dante. Inferno, Canto V'']
* [http://share.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=9745 Gigapan image of the Gates of Hell].
* [[Octave Mirbeau]], [http://www.scribd.com/doc/8406162/Octave-Mirbeau-Auguste-Rodin « Auguste Rodin »].

{{Auguste Rodin}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gates of Hell, The}}
[[Category:Auguste Rodin sculptures]]
[[Category:Gates]]
[[Category:Collections of the Musée d'Orsay]]
[[Category:1917 works]]

[[es:Las Puertas del Infierno]]
[[fa:دروازه‌های جهنم]]
[[fr:La Porte de l'enfer]]
[[he:שערי הגיהנום]]
[[ja:地獄の門]]
[[pt:Porta do Inferno]]

Wikipedia - Benutzerbeiträge [de]

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