In 1880, the French government commissioned Rodin to decorate the bronze gate of the upcoming French Museum of Crafts. Rodin first thought of the bronze relief gate "Gate of Paradise" made by Giberti for the Florence Baptistery when conceiving this work. He decided to create a sculpture of hell on earth, the Gates of Hell, on the theme of Dante's Divine Comedy in Hell.
Hell's Gates sparked Rodin's boundless imagination, and in the process of completing this creation, he also reached the pinnacle of sculptural skills.
"You have come here to give up all hope!"
As the earth swept in, 187 human bodies intertwined like a storm, and at every corner of the gates were crowded people who had fallen into hell. The entire plan of the gate is undulating with high reliefs and bas-reliefs, which, under the illumination of the light, form an intricate and changing shadow, making the entire gate appear gloomy and gloomy, full of terror that cannot be calmed.
This first-draft model, cast from wax, shows the composition that Rodin originally envisioned. Rodin drew inspiration from Lorenzo Ghiberti's Portal of Heaven for the Florence Baptistery (1425-1452). He divided the gate into ten panels, five on each leaf, wrapped in decorative borders and divided by flanges. There are no details on the panel yet, and Rodin has only sketched out the overall layout of the sculpture in a few simple steps.
The second model does not show the whole of the gate, but concentrates on several panels to outline the composition. These bas-reliefs are covered with very small figures. It is impossible to accurately identify the subject of expression, but it is clear that many portrait combinations are quite similar to some contemporary paintings.
The third model of Hell's Gate is very similar to the composition rodin finally chose. Several paintings of the time show that Rodin soon reduced the number of panels from ten to eight, and he soon abandoned the idea of separating the two doors. The structure of The Gates of Hell adopts some of the characteristics of Gothic art: a pillar is erected in the middle of the two doors, and the top of the column is decorated with the portrait of the Thinker, which is located in the center of the lintel. However, the work drew more inspiration from the architectural style of the Renaissance: its structure of orthogonal lines, pilasters carved with figures, and column top plates decorated with cornices. Among the main figures outlined on the gate, the Kiss on the left and the Ugolin that devours one's own child on the right are recognizable, a version that is closer to a painting study than to the final work.
thinker
kiss
Three shadows
Adam
Eve
Rodin created countless statues for Hell's Gates, including some of Rodin's rather famous works, such as The Thinker, The Three Shadows, Kiss, Adam, Eve, etc.
The Gates of Hell is an immortal work that showcases Rodin's sculptural art. Learn about Rodin starting at the Gates of Hell.
Two gates – the gates of heaven and the gates of hell
There are two famous european gates in the San Francisco Bay Area, "The Gates of Paradise" and "The Gates of Hell." "Gates of Paradise" is at Grace Cathedral in the heart of the city, and "Gates of Hell" is in Rodin Gardens at the Stanford University Museum of Art.
Heaven's Gate
The Gates of Paradise
(1) Detailed drawing of the Gate of Heaven
(2) Detailed drawing of the Gate of Heaven
(3) Detailed drawing of the Gate of Heaven
(4) Detailed drawing of the Gate of Heaven
(5) Detailed drawing of the Gate of Heaven
(6) Detailed drawing of the Gate of Heaven
(7) Detailed drawing of the Gate of Heaven
(8) Detailed drawing of the Gates of Heaven
(9) Detailed drawing of the Gate of Heaven
(10) Detailed drawing of the Gate of Heaven
On the west side of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, Italy, there is an octagonal baptistery built in the seventh century AD, the interior was redesigned in 1300, and frescoes of "Genesis" and "The Last Judgment" were added to the ceiling. The Baptistery has three bronze doors, the most well-known of which is the East Gate. In 1403, Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378-1455) won the first important commission of his life by virtue of the gilded copper of the Sacrifice of Isaac and Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446) and Jacopo della Quercia 1371-1438. A second pair of bronze doors (East Gate) was made for the Baptistery of Florence Cathedral. Gilbert was originally a metal craftsman, when he was only twenty-five years old, the east door carving was not completed until 1452, took twenty-seven years, is a group of bronze carvings, with important characteristics of Renaissance art, realistic depictions of the human body, the application of perspective. There are ten relief bronze plates at the east gate according to Old Testament stories, for "Adam and Eve expelled from the Garden of Eden", "Noah", "Cain murdered his brother Abel", "Isaac dedicated by Abraham", "Moses received the Ten Commandments", "Esau and Jacob", "The Story of Joseph", "David" and "Solomon", etc., Each relief copper plate is 31.25 X 31.25 inches in size, and later Michelangelo saw this door and was amazed and praised as the "Gate of Heaven".
Baptistery
Floor plan of the Baptistery
The Gates of Hell
(1) Detailed drawing of the Gates of Hell
(2) Detailed drawing of the Gates of Hell
(3) Detailed drawing of the Gates of Hell
(4) Detailed drawing of the Gates of Hell
(5) Detailed drawing of the Gates of Hell
(6) Detailed drawing of the Gates of Hell
Another door was Rodin's Gate of Hell, and on August 16, 1880, the French Council of the Arts commissioned Rodin with the title of a door to the Musée des Arts Deco in Paris, titled Dante's Divine Comedy, originally designed like Gilbert's Gate of Heaven, consisting of ten relief bronze plates with different themes.
The Gates of Hell photographed by Eugene Druet in 1889
The mirror reflects Rodin and the Gates of Hell, 1889 photo
Gilbert was an artist who was good at metal reliefs, and rodin the sculptor, in the evolution of this door design, abandoned the original model of relief copper plates, and divided the door into six parts, including the top of the door, the lintel, and the left and right door frames, two doors on each side, and composed of three-dimensional statue groups. The content was not the whole of the Divine Comedy, but only focused on the hell part, the design work began in the first year, Rodin sketched for the content of the characters, and later when he did sculpture, he abandoned most of the figures, only using such as Paolo and Francesca, Ugolino and his Children, "The Shades" and "The Thinker", and in 1882 built the door frame to begin to shape. In 1884 he decided that the design was largely complete, and on August 20, 1885 an order began casting, and in early 1886 Rodin was not satisfied with the initial timing, and the work was shelved, leaving only the first mold made of plaster.