The commission for the “Gate of Hell” (the Porte de l’Enfer) dates from 1880, and was a direct consequence of the settlement of the controversy which arose out of the “Age of Brass.” The original idea was to provide an entrance to the projected Musée des Arts Décoratifs, which, if it did not vie with, would at least recall Lorenzo Ghiberti’s “Gate of Paradise,” in the Baptistery at Florence. The original site for the Musée in the Cour des Comptes has, however, since been utilized for a railway station, and the French Government has, accordingly, never required the completion of its contract. For twenty-seven years the “Gate of Hell” has stood in Rodin’s studio in the Rue de l’Université—subject to constant modification and elaboration. No one who has ever been absorbed in a particular art will find it difficult to realize the consequences of this chance. The “Gate of Hell” has become the store-house from which Rodin draws his sculptural inspiration. All his thoughts and emotions which call for sculptural expression seem to spend themselves upon it. Rodin’s philosophy is a mixture of Dante and Baudelaire. Consequently, the “Gate of Hell” has practically become a twentieth-century paraphrase of the teachings of the two men, expressed in terms of sculpture. Some of Rodin’s ideas, naturally, fail to find a convenient niche in the gate. Others prove capable of translation into individual works on a larger scale. For instance, the first idea for the well-known group in the Luxembourg, “The Kiss” (Le Baiser), was designed for the Porte de l’Enfer, and showed Paolo and Francesca falling hellward, in the very throes of their guilty passion. In the larger marble, the idea has been purged of its Dantesque character, and Rodin gives us a picture of the eternal beauty of true passion. Primarily, “The Kiss” is a study in vigorous manhood, though Rodin is no less successful in his treatment of the softer form of the woman. Neither is reminiscent of the model. But while Rodin has idealized the figures, he has never reached the false idealism which spells convention. But the real worth of “The Kiss” does not lie in its technical achievement, but in the pure, human emotion with which the work is suffused. Note—it is only a minor point—the hand on the woman’s thigh, quivering with passion. Compare it with the unresponsive fingers of the other hand which rest upon the stony rock. When finished, the “Gate of Hell” is to be of bronze, and it will be executed in high relief after Ghiberti’s model. At present it consists of a two-leaved door, with a frieze, a tympanum, and two lateral columns. In the panels and upon the wide uprights are a multitude of figures—perhaps 100—also in high relief. The whole gate will be at least twenty feet high. Crowning the whole design will be the famous figure of the “Thinker.”