"Long before Rodin had been commissioned to sculpt a large figure in 1880 for a doorway surround called, 'The Gates of Hell' (based on Dante's 'The Divine Comedy'), much thinking had previously taken place in the mind of mankind's ancestor. Originally named 'The Poet (French: Le Poete), it later became renamed by foundry workers as 'The Thinker.' The sculpture is nude as Rodin wanted a heroic figure that was in the tradition of Michelangelo, to represent intellect as well as poetry and philosophy.
It is strange to think that foundry workers of modest intellect would become responsible for naming one of the most famous statues in the history of man or for that matter, that humans would one day ape the pose of gorillas sat in deep thought as they contemplated in what form and manner of creature they would choose to be reincarnated as in their next life?" William Forde: June 30th, 2014.