The literary origin of Rodin's "The Gates of Hell" is Dante's "Divine Comedy".
In 1880, when Rodin was still a promising but little-known sculptor, he was commissioned to create a grand portal for the Museum of Decorative Arts. When Rodin conceived this work, he first thought of Ghiberti's bronze relief door "Gate of Paradise" for the Florence Baptistery. He threw himself wholeheartedly into this work, painting and sculpting numerous themes from Dante's Divine Comedy.
In this long poem written by Dante Alighieri in the early 14th century, he describes his journey through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise. Like many Romance artists before Rodin, Rodin was full of interest in hell, full of suffering creatures, and ignored the other two parts, focusing only on the darkest part-hell.
Extended information:
Rodin began to create "The Gates of Hell" at the age of 40, working up to 16 hours a day for 37 years until his death in 1917. Despite his devotion, he felt that he did not express the artistic conception of "Hell's Gate" very well. Rodin's giant work has a strong narrative character. His sculptures emphasize tactile feel, which is very different from the previous European classical art tradition.
"The Gates of Hell" burst out Rodin's creativity in spatial imagination and construction, making this sculptural space composed of 187 human bodies full of depth. In this dimension, the overcrowded beings are falling into hell. They are struggling hard, but to no avail, and they continue to fall.
The whole work is dynamic, with reliefs in different positions seeming to emerge from behind the background, creating intricate phantoms and filled with a gloomy atmosphere.
Baidu Encyclopedia - Gate of Hell
ifeng.com - Rodin and his sculpture art