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guillaume at the gates of hell by rodin, after a scene described by dante in the divine comedy.

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behind the museum construction workers were assembling a large single story stucture, an airy looking gallery set in a formal garden. i enjoed checking out their french work vans, mostly pugeots, parked among the trees. along one side of the grounds was a glass walled display of more sculptures. one window looked into a large number of partially developed marble carvings, exerpts or studies or both.

near the front corner we stopped at the gates of hell, a large, elaborate and magnificent work originally intended for the doors to a church. seated directly over the door was the famous original version of the thinker, executed at a smaller scale than his many monumental castings of the same subject.

we left musee rodin and rode the metro under the river over to the third arondissment.

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