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How was Dante’s Divine Comedy used in The Gates of Hell?

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Portrait of Auguste Rodin standing indoors, wearing a buttoned, two-toned coat with a full beard and tousled hair, looking slightly to the side. — Auguste Rodin French sculptor Auguste Rodin.

Auguste Rodin used Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy, specifically the Inferno, as the primary thematic inspiration for his monumental bronze doors, The Gates of Hell.12

Rodin initially modeled a series of small clay figures representing various tormented characters from the poem. His vision for the work was profoundly influenced by a visit to London in 1881, where he encountered the works of William Blake and other artists inspired by Dante. This led him to transform the doors into a representation of a universe filled with forms tormented by love, pain, and death.21

Key applications of the poem within the project include:
* The Thinker: Originally conceived as a seated portrait of Dante himself, this figure was placed on the tympanum above the doors to observe the suffering souls below.12
* The Kiss: This famous sculpture was originally designed to depict the characters Paolo and Francesca from the Inferno.1

While The Gates of Hell remained unfinished at Rodin's death, it served as a foundational framework from which he developed many of his most iconic independent sculptural works.12