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·罗丹将其创作于《地狱之门》（The Gates of Hell）中的“沉思者”（Meditation）形象——一位受罚女性——复用至其《维克多·雨果纪念碑》（Monument to Victor Hugo）中。1895年，他将该形象从纪念碑上拆下，将尺寸放大至原有的三倍，并重新命名为《内心的声音》（Inner Voice）。罗丹留存了其创作过程中的痕迹，连铸模接缝（mould seamlines）都一并保留。在其他版本中，他甚至保留了该形象从纪念碑拆下时受损的断膝。1896年，他以这种看似未完成的状态将该作品展出于巴黎沙龙（Salon），并说道：“对自然的研究已然完备，我已竭尽所能将艺术呈现得尽可能臻于完美。我认为这件石膏作品是我最出色的完成品之一，亦是最具先锋性的创作。”该作品曾于2018年4月26日至7月29日在伦敦大英博物馆（The British Museum）举办的“罗丹与古希腊艺术”（Rodin and the art of ancient Greece）展览中完成扫描。该作品现藏于巴黎罗丹美术馆（Musée Rodin），并常年对外展出。