How tall is Auguste Rodin’s original plaster version of The Thinker?

Auguste Rodin’s original plaster version of The Thinker is 71.5 centimetres tall.

Rodin created the small plaster figure around 1880 as part of The Gates of Hell, a monumental project inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy. The seated man was conceived as a thinker overlooking the figures below, rather than initially as an independent public monument.

The original plaster is much smaller than the famous enlarged bronze casts displayed in museums and public spaces. This difference in scale is a common source of confusion: “The Thinker” refers to multiple versions derived from Rodin’s model, not one object with a single universal height.

Rodin later authorized enlargements and casts in bronze, including the well-known monumental versions. The sculpture’s pose—its head supported by one hand while the figure leans forward—helped make it one of the most recognizable works in modern sculpture.