After the formative years (1855-1865), where Rodin made ??many academies and copies of the works, he (1870-1880) took mix of sketches taken in small books during his trip to Italy in 1876-1877. This included studies by Michelangelo, projects for decorations ceramics for the Sevres factory, architectural drawings identified during its trips to meet the cathedrals of France. In the early 1880s, the important series of "black designs" inspired by Dante's Inferno is the first studies that began to Rodin's The Gates of Hell. Added to this set are the drawings which he adorns. At the request of ...