Auguste Rodin

François-Auguste-René Rodin was a French sculptor and draftsman. With him the age of modern plastic and sculpture began. Rodin came from a conservative civil servant family; his father worked in the police administration. In 1853, at the age of 13, Rodin became a student at the École Spéciale de Dessin et de Mathématiques, known as the “Petite École”. He stayed there until 1857. During this time he tried three times in vain to be accepted as a student at the famous École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris to study sculpture. Therefore, he continued his artistic career without any further formal training.