The Thinker
Rodin's bronze of a naked seated man, elbow on knee, fist under chin — the universal cartoon pose for someone concentrating hard.
Origin
Auguste Rodin made the original around 1880 as part of The Gates of Hell, his enormous project of a doorway covered in figures from Dante's Inferno. The seated figure was meant to be Dante himself, brooding over the souls below. Rodin enlarged him into a standalone work in 1904. About twenty-eight monumental casts exist today (Rodin's studio kept making them after his death, which is technically permitted under French law). The most famous sits in the Musée Rodin gardens in Paris; another guards Rodin's tomb.
Modern usage
The pose — fist supporting the chin, elbow on knee, eyes down — is the universal cartoon shorthand for 'thinking hard.' Recreated in every editorial illustration, every think-emoji, every parody of a philosopher. 'Doing the Thinker' is a meme pose used when posting about a difficult problem.
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