You’ve seen The Thinker a thousand times, but do you know who the figure really represents?

Originally created by Auguste Rodin as part of his massive “The Gates of Hell” doorway sculpture, this iconic figure was meant to be none other than Dante Alighieri himself, literally thinking about the horrors of Hell from his own Inferno.

So yeah, not “What should I have for dinner?”, more like “Wow, humanity really messed up.”

This video dives into the story behind the sculpture, from Rodin’s difficult early career to how a figure originally meant to represent Dante Alighieri, contemplating the torments of Hell, gradually became a universal symbol of human thought and introspection.