Rodin’s ‘Thinker’ back at Stanford

It’s one of the most recognizable sculptures in the world, and after a couple of years on loan in North Carolina, Auguste Rodin’s The Thinker has returned to its home on the farm.

Workers have spent the past couple of weeks preparing the Diekman Gallery at the Cantor Arts Center for the sculpture’s return. The one-ton, 79-inch bronze cast of  The Thinker — one of twelve authorized by the Musée Rodin in Paris — is said to be the world’s largest.

Thinker arrived at Stanford in 1988 as a promised gift from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation. It greeted visitors to Stanford’s Meyer Library until 2006, when it joined nearly 200 other Rodin works at the Cantor Arts Center.

Starting Wednesday at 11, the public can view The Thinker and the entire Cantor collection at the Arts Center’s usual price: Free.