Katherine had told us about the Rodin Museum. I asked who Rodin was, she told me he was the guy who made The Thinker. Curious I said that would be a good place to go so we walked down there. It was a museum whose admittance was a suggested donation of $5. The front yard was all under construction so it was behind fences but the new pool and the garden surrounding looked like it’d someday be beautiful.

We walked up the big marble steps and looked with a sort of morbid awe at the Gates of Hell. Literally, we were standing in front of them, or at least Rodin’s idea of what Hell might be like… there were people clawing to get out, babies trying to scratch and crawl their way out of limbo towards the bottom sides. Well how can you not go in with a tease like that?? We entered… Whew! I didn’t know anything about Rodin but suddenly felt I knew everything I had to know… this guy must have been pretty off in the head. The vast majority of the figures were in agonizing distress with titles like “Martyr” and “despair.” Women, obviously, were pictured in the usual backwards religious way as being the devilish temptresses of men… but I shrugged that off as some of the hands sculptures were simply amazing.

Even Katherine hadn’t been here before and I think it was a pretty neat little place. I would definitely suggest it to anyone who has any interest whatsoever in art or psychology or even the human figure. I wish I knew who some of the busts were but I just didn’t. No real explanation either. That’s alright though, I can look them up if I really want to.

If you are enjoying Catching Marbles please consider adding a dollar or two to my limited gas money fund so I can continue going on adventures and sharing them with you! Thank you!