The Inner Voice or Meditation

Rodin reused the figure of Meditation, a damned woman on The Gates of Hell, for his Monument to Victor Hugo. In 1895 he cut the figure from the monument, tripled its size and renamed it Inner Voice. Rodin embraced traces of his working process and kept the mould seamlines. In other versions he even retained the severed knee that was damaged when the figure was cut from the Monument. He exhibited the work in this seemingly unfinished state in 1896 at the Salon, saying: The study of Nature is complete, and I have made every effort to render art as complete as possible. I consider that this plaster is one of my best finished works, the most advanced. This was scanned at The 'Rodin and the art of ancient Greece' exhibition at The British Museum, London (26th April - 29th July 2018). The work originates from the Musée Rodin, Paris, where it is on permanent display.奥古斯特·罗丹将原本属于《地狱之门》（The Gates of Hell）中“受谴女子”形象的《沉思》（Meditation），复用至其《维克多·雨果纪念碑》（Monument to Victor Hugo）的创作中。1895年，他将该形象从纪念碑上拆下，将尺寸放大三倍，并将其更名为《内心的声音》（Inner Voice）。罗丹保留了创作过程中的痕迹，并未抹去模具接缝的纹路。在其他版本的该作品中，他甚至保留了从纪念碑上拆下形象时受损的断裂膝盖。1896年，罗丹以这种看似未完成的状态将作品参展法国官方沙龙，并表示：“对自然的研习已然完备，我已竭尽所能让艺术臻于完整。我认为这件石膏作品是我最完善的创作之一，也是最具前瞻性的作品。”该作品曾于2018年4月26日至7月29日在伦敦大英博物馆举办的“罗丹与古希腊艺术”特展中完成扫描。这件作品源自巴黎罗丹美术馆（Musée Rodin），目前在该馆永久展出。