Ugolino and Sons is a plaster sculpture by Auguste Rodin and part of the ensemble known as La Puerta del Infierno. The work was exhibited independently by Rodin in Brussels in 1887, Edinburgh in 1893, Genoa in 1896, Florence in 1897, the Netherlands in 1899, and in Rodin’s own retrospective in 1900. The sculpture is associated with the story of Ugolino, an aristocrat and politician in Pisa who governed the city for five years before being convicted of treason. According to the narrative referenced in Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, Ugolino was captured with his children and grandchildren and imprisoned in the Tower of Mida, where they died of starvation nine months later. The subject is known as “El conde caníbal,” and is sometimes depicted eating his own fingers. The conception of the work is linked to Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, who began a project on Ugolino and his children in 1858.

Independent Exhibitions of Ugolino and Sons

Ugolino and sons is a plaster sculpture by Auguste Rodin and forms part of the ensemble known as La Puerta del Infierno. Although associated with that larger work, it was also shown independently on several occasions. Rodin exhibited it in Brussels in 1887, Edinburgh in 1893, Genoa in 1896, Florence in 1897, and in the Netherlands in 1899. It was also included in Rodin's own retrospective in 1900. These separate exhibitions indicate that the sculpture had an independent public presence in addition to its role within the larger ensemble.

Literary and Historical Background

Ugolino was an aristocrat and politician in Pisa who governed the city for five years before being convicted of treason. He was captured together with his children and grandchildren and imprisoned with them in the Tower of Mida. According to the facts associated with his story, he and his family died of starvation nine months after imprisonment. Dante Alighieri narrated this episode in the Divine Comedy, placing Ugolino in the last circle of hell. In that account, Ugolino explains to Dante how the prisoners died slowly in prison, and his children begged him to eat them at the time of his death. Because of this story, he is known as

Conception and artistic influence

Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, a 19th century French sculptor, began a project dedicated to Ugolino and his children for the Academy in 1858. The work was pending delivery to the French Government as part of his effort to win a scholarship to Rome to study at Villa Medici. Carpeaux worked for several years on a sculpture intended to convey agony, fury, and despair. In the composition, the main character is shown with one hand on the chin and fingers in the mouth. This sculpture became a main source of inspiration for Rodin, both for Ugolino and his children and for The Thinker, and the posture of the central figure is the same as in Rodin's The Thinker.

Rodin's Ugolino in The Gates of Hell

Ugolino and Sons marked Rodin greatly in the Divine Comedy episode and was one of the first two themes from the poem that he interpreted in sculpture. The group was first represented by Rodin in a vertical posture similar to Carpeaux, but in the final version it appears in a horizontal position. Ugolino is shown leaning on his knees with an open mouth and a desperate gesture. The sculpture was enlarged by Henri Lebosse between 1901 and 1904. A bronze casting was made after Rodin's death, despite a request from the French State. The bronze is located in the sculptural garden of Musee Rodin in Paris. In The Gates of Hell, the group is placed in the middle lower part of the left leaf. Unlike the scene in the poem, it does not show the fourth son lying near Ugolino's right leg.