Rodin Museum

The Musée Rodin was opened in 1919 in the Hotel Biron and surrounding grounds. It displays works by the French sculptor, Auguste Rodin, who used the Hotel Biron as his residence from 1908 and subsequently donated his entire collection of nearly 500 sculptures to the French State on condition that they turn the building into a museum dedicated to his works. It has since become the most popular museum in Paris devoted to a single artist. The garden of the Rodin Museum surrounds the Hotel Biron and contains many of Rodin’s famous sculptures in natural settings.

The museum is easily accessible by metro, and as soon as you arrive at the metro stop Varenne, right there on the platform are two of Rodin’s famous works, “The Thinker” and “Balzac.”

Rodin's sculpture of French writer " Balzac" at the metro stop Varenne

Rodin's sculpture, "The Thinker" at the metro stop Varenne

Entrance to the Rodin Museum

Most of the garden of the Rodin Museum is behind the building, but to the left and right in front of Hotel Biron, are two large formal, elegant gardens. In one of the gardens is the sculpture “The Three Shades.” The shades are the souls of the damned in Dante’s Divine Comedy. They stand at the Gates of Hell and point to the inscription, “Abandon hope, all ye who enter here.”

Hotel Biron, Rodin's residence, now a museum 

The "Three Shades" seen from the back

The "Three Shades" from the back of the sculpture, as you see them when entering this part of the garden

The "Three Shades" in their twisting, tormented pose

The "Three Shades"

Rodin's signature

The plaque accompanying this sculpture

Rodin was awarded a commission to design a bronze door for a future Museum of Decorative Arts. He was inspired by Dante’s “The Divine Comedy,” which is a long poem describing the poet’s journey through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise. Rodin was most interested in Hell, inhabited by many despairing beings, and made this theme the dominant motif of the door.

The "Gates of Hell" is located just beyond the sculpture of the "Three Shades."

The "Gates of Hell"

Detail of the upper part of the "Gates of Hell." You can see the "Three Shades" at the very top of the sculpture and "The Thinker" just below them.

In the center of the other formal garden is “The Thinker.” This sculpture was originally meant to be on the Gates of Hell, where the Poet Dante contemplated with sorrow the crowd of damned souls below him. "The Thinker" was later exhibited individually and became an independent work. Enlarged, the image of a man lost in thought but whose powerful body suggests a great capacity for action, became one of the most famous sculptures ever known.

"The Thinker" as seen when entering the garden



A closer view of "The Thinker"


"The Thinker"



The inscription on the base of the sculpture

Rodin was commissioned to do a monument to Balzac, a revered French writer. After six years of working on the sculpture, Rodin produced a revolutionary monument which did not include the usual attributes of a writer, like an armchair, a desk, a pen or book. Rodin instead evoked the essence of Balzac as a visionary genius and an inspired creator. It was considered so outrageous in 1897 that the commission was cancelled.

"Balzac"

The head of the Balzac sculpture

In 1347, after a year-long siege, six citizens of Calais agreed to sacrifice their lives and hand over the keys to their city to its conqueror, King Edward III of England. In 1884, the Mayor of Calais suggested erecting a monument as a tribute to their heroism. Rodin was awarded the commission for the price of 15,000 francs. He succeeded in making the men express the different feelings experienced by men on the verge of death.

"The Burghers of Calais"

Barefoot, wearing only tunics, with a rope around their necks, the condemned men begin their slow, mournful walk.

Rodin was commissioned to sculpt a monument in honor of Victor Hugo after Hugo’s death in 1885. The “Monument to Victor Hugo” depicted Hugo as a man of advancing years, seated among the rocks of Guernsey. His arm is outstretched, as if to calm the waves, and the writer seems lost in contemplation. A muse who inspired him is seated on the rock above him. The project was unanimously rejected and was not placed in the Pantheon, along with other great French historical figures.

Rodin's "Tribute to Victor Hugo"

The "Tribute to Victor Hugo" in a park-like setting next to the Hotel Biron

A few steps down from the terrace lined with rose bushes lies the garden behind the Hotel Biron. It has extensive lawns lined with flower beds and avenues of trees that lead to an ornamental pool, in the center of which is Rodin’s “Ugolin.” Paths on either side of the lawn also wind around through a myriad of plants, including hydrangea, hollyhock, forsythia, peony, geranium, ferns, iris, periwinkle, bamboo, and others.

The grounds behind the Hotel Biron

Rose bushes extend all around the terrace

The garden on the left has a natural feeling, with a meandering path through many different kinds of plants.

The expansive lawn extends back to a pool surrounded by ivied walls.

The garden on the right has the kind of path which meanders through flower beds and on which Rodin liked to stroll.

A small fountain and pool in the garden

Ugolino, who was a character in Dante’s “Divine Comedy,” was imprisoned in the Tower of Pisa and condemned to starve to death with his children. Driven crazy by hunger, he devoured his dead children. For this crime, he was eternally damned. Rodin placed Ugolino and his dying children in a prominent position on the “Gates of Hell.” An enlargement of this group now stands in the pool in the gardens behind the Hotel Biron. Behind the pool are 3 thickly ivy-covered portals and an ivy-covered, curved wall.

Ornamental pool with the "Ugolin" sculpture in the center, and the ivied arches and wall in the background 

A closer view of the "Ugolin" sculpture, with Ugolino crawling over the bodies of his dying children. He has not yet given in to his hunger. 

On a kinder, gentler note, in this charming little side garden stands “Eve,” whom Rodin portrayed as sensual but modest. Her modesty is expressed by her lowered head and crossed arms. “Eve” was received with enthusiasm.

"Eve" in the garden

A closer view of Rodin's sensual but modest interpretation of Eve

The Rodin Museum has always been my favorite museum in Paris; there is something about the expressiveness of Rodin's sculptures that keeps me coming back to see them again.