The third maquette for The Gates of Hell is very similar to the composition finally retained by Rodin. As several drawings done at this time show, the sculptor had swiftly reduced the number of panels from ten to eight, before abandoning the idea of compartments on the two doors. He then borrowed some of the characteristics of Gothic art for the structure of his portal: between the two doors there was now a central pier, surmounted by a figure seated on a capital, The Thinker , housed in a sort of tympanum. However, the work owes its largest debt to the Renaissance, with its composition based on orthogonal lines, its pilasters adorned with figures and its entablature supported by modillions. Among the main groups recognizable on the doors are The Kiss, on the left, and Ugolino devouring his children, on the right, in a version closer to the preliminary drawings than to the final work. (Source: Musée Rodin [website]; http://www.musee-rodin.fr/en/)
work_description_source
The third maquette for The Gates of Hell is very similar to the composition finally retained by Rodin. As several drawings done at this time show, the sculptor had swiftly reduced the number of panels from ten to eight, before abandoning the idea of compartments on the two doors. He then borrowed some of the characteristics of Gothic art for the structure of his portal: between the two doors there was now a central pier, surmounted by a figure seated on a capital, The Thinker , housed in a sort of tympanum. However, the work owes its largest debt to the Renaissance, with its composition based on orthogonal lines, its pilasters adorned with figures and its entablature supported by modillions. Among the main groups recognizable on the doors are The Kiss, on the left, and Ugolino devouring his children, on the right, in a version closer to the preliminary drawings than to the final work. (Source: Musée Rodin [website]; http://www.musee-rodin.fr/en/)
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