Notre Dame's "thinking" gargoyle
Rodin's "The Thinker"
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Notre Dame's "thinking" gargoyle |
Rodin's "The Thinker" |
I will be comparing a gargoyle in Notre Dame which appears to be thinking and Rodin's "The Thinker" who is in exactly the same thinking position. These two figures have many differences: one is made of stone, the other is made of bronze; one is from the 12th century, the other is from the 1800s; one has many different copies which are scattered all around the world, the other is on a cathedral in Paris; etc. However, just by looking at the pictures of these two works of art, you can see the similarity in not only their positions, but the pondering feeling which they omit is unmistakable. This is why I chose to compare these two pieces of art.
As I said before, these two pieces, despite their unremarkable resemblance to one another are different in many other ways. They are made of different materials and in different ways, one is cast from bronze, the other is carved out of stone. The original "Thinker" in "The Gates of Hell" had less volume than the gargoyle, however, after it was remade it became at least twice as big. The textures are also different, one has a smooth but bumpy surface, the others is not lumpy, but it is rough, being made of unpolished stone. Although their colors are not the same, they are both very plain, the color of the material they were made of. "The Thinker" is sort of coppery and the gargoyle is stone gray. There is some variety in the lines of the gargoyle; the horns on his head are straighter and have more sharp angles, whereas the rest of his body has more curved lines. However, "The Thinker"'s lines are very repetitive and they all flow with the same kind of movement.
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