The Gates of Hell (Third Maquette) 1880, Musée Rodin cast IV/IV in 1992 Bronze 43 5/8 x 29 1/16 x 11 3/4 in. Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation Rodin executed countless studies for The Gates of Hell. He made hundreds of drawings of individual characters and scenes as well as sketches of the architechtural composition. He also produced several maquettes (a small model used to make preliminary sketches) to lay out the overall composition of The Gates. The first maquette was only ten inches high and does not contain any figures, but rather just a general outline of the doors thumbed into the clay. By his third, and last, maquette the composition is still rough and simplified, however, several figures are recognizably similar to ones that appear in the final model. Most of the figures are difficult to discern but some, such as The Thinker which sits near the top, are as evident as in the final composition. Upon close examination, Paolo and Francesca, the figures in The Kiss, are also visible on the lower left side.