Auguste Rodin was born November 12, 1840. He was shy and nearsighted as a child. He discovered his love for drawing when he was 10. Rodin would visit museums to study antique sculptures as a young adult while attending Petit Ecole. He then discovered clay and realized how capable he was in making sculptures. After early struggles and the death of his sister he joined the Catholic order, realizing that was not his calling he left to pursue his artistic dreams. But first came marriage and then a son, he then entered a bust in the Paris Salon. He later became very inspired while living in Belgium. He completed his piece The Vanquished, critics accused Rodin of casting a model, which a sculptor would never do. The accusations followed him to Paris and again had to defend his work. He then went on to create The Thinker, The Kiss and The Gates of Hell. He went on to create many sculptures.