Which sculpture stood above Auguste Rodin’s grave at Meudon?

The Thinker stood above Auguste Rodin’s grave at Meudon.

Rodin died in 1917 and was buried at the Musée Rodin site in Meudon, outside Paris. A version of The Thinker was placed above the grave, linking the sculptor’s final resting place with the work most strongly associated with his public reputation.

The statue had begun decades earlier as The Poet, a figure connected with The Gates of Hell and Dante’s Divine Comedy. Through independent exhibitions and enlarged versions, it became known as The Thinker and came to symbolize intellectual concentration more broadly.

The grave sculpture is not the same object as every famous cast of The Thinker. Rodin’s practice involved multiple versions, sizes, and casts, and museums around the world display examples. The Meudon association therefore identifies the work and its role at the grave, not a claim that only one Thinker exists.