Most expensive sculpture by Rodin

A cast of French sculptor Auguste Rodin’s famous work The Thinker was auctioned at Sotheby’s in New York, USA, on 7 May 2013 for a record $15.3 m (£10.7 m). The 72-cm sculpture was commissioned by publishing mogul Ralph Pulitzer in 1906 and was made under Rodin's supervision.

The Thinker began as part of a larger sculpture called The Gates of Hell, based on Dante’s epic poem "The Divine Comedy". Rodin never finished this work – instead, several portions of it became sculptures in their own right. Today, there exist at least two dozen original casts of The Thinker, the most famous of which is a bronze on display at the Musée Rodin in Paris. Two other sculptures taken from The Gates of Hell were sold in the 2013 auction – The Kiss (1909) and Ugolino and His Children (1883).