The Three Shades

Rodin placed The Three Shades at the very top of his Gates of Hell, inspired by Dante's Inferno. The three figures are identical: the same male body cast three times and arranged in a circle, heads bowed, arms pointing downward toward the damned souls below. They represent the spirits who guard the entrance to Hell.

Rodin based the figure on his earlier Adam sculpture, itself inspired by Michelangelo's figures in the Sistine Chapel. The heavy, muscular bodies and drooping postures convey weight and despair. Each figure leans forward at an extreme angle. When displayed as an independent group (separate from the Gates), the three converging bodies create a powerful sense of gravity and hopelessness.