The Rodin Museum, at 77 rue de Varenne (7th arrondissement), shows the work of Auguste Rodin in the Hôtel Biron and in a sculpture garden where The Thinker and The Gates of Hell stand. It is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 6:30pm (last entry 5:45pm); a ticket costs €14, and entry is free for under-18s and for 18-25-year-olds resident in the European Union. For another option, see Musée Rodin: entry ticket. Allow about 1.5 to 2 hours for the 18 rooms of the Hôtel Biron and the garden. Before it became a museum, the mansion was home to many artists, including Isadora Duncan, Henri Matisse, Jean Cocteau and the poet Rainer Maria Rilke.
Before you book Invalides and Napoleon's Tomb: Ticket or Tour?Highlights
The Thinker
Auguste Rodin's famous bronze stands in the garden. Originally designed to crown The Gates of Hell, it depicted Dante pondering his poem before becoming a work in its own right, often used as a symbol of philosophy.
The Kiss
This white marble, displayed inside the Hôtel Biron, depicts Paolo and Francesca, lovers from Dante's Inferno killed by Francesca's husband, Gianciotto Malatesta. It is one of Rodin's best-known works.
The sculpture garden
The French-style garden brings together several major bronzes, including The Gates of Hell and The Burghers of Calais. Benches and chairs at the far end look out on the dome of Les Invalides, and a café-restaurant is set in the garden.
The Camille Claudel room
Room 16 of the Hôtel Biron shows works by Camille Claudel, Rodin's pupil and then collaborator, and recalls the close ties between the two artists.
The Hôtel Biron
This rococo mansion was built in 1732 by the architect Jean Aubert. Rodin rented a few rooms there in 1908, took over the whole building from 1911 and donated his works to the French State in 1916; the museum opened on 4 August 1919. The visit covers 18 rooms of clay sketches, plasters, bronzes and marbles.
Opening hours and tickets
Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 6:30pm, last entry 5:45pm; closed on Mondays and on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December, with no late opening. Full price: €14 according to the museum's website; the online ticket office lists €15 for the skip-the-line ticket, valid for one year, covering the Hôtel Biron, the garden and the temporary exhibition. The official ticket office does not sell a garden-only ticket. Free for under-18s, 18-25-year-olds resident in the EU or EEA, disabled visitors and one companion, jobseekers, and for everyone on the first Sunday of the month from October to March. Combined tickets: with the Musée d'Orsay €25, the Musée du Quai Branly €23, the Musée de l'Armée €26.
The Rodin Museum in Meudon
The Villa des Brillants, where Rodin spent the last twenty years of his life, houses a gallery of plasters; his tomb, topped by The Thinker, lies in the grounds. At 19 avenue Auguste-Rodin in Meudon (RER C Meudon-Val-Fleury), the site is currently closed for the winter season and reopens in spring 2027.
Practical info
Tips
- Buy your skip-the-line ticket online to avoid queuing at the ticket desk. The first Sunday of the month, free from October to March, is very busy. An audio guide in 8 languages is available for €6.50. The Invalides, whose dome is visible from the garden, are next door, and the Musée d'Orsay is covered by a combined ticket.
How to get there
77 rue de Varenne, 75007 Paris. Metro Varenne (line 13), next to the museum, or Invalides (lines 8 and 13); RER C Invalides. Buses 69, 82, 87 and 92; Vélib' station at 9 boulevard des Invalides.
Opening hours
Prices
Our guides that feature it
Nearby
See on the map →
Comments
No comments yet.