Darwin's Ape Thinker Cast Bronze Statue

Hugo Rheinhold's (1853-1900) most popular sculpture, a reflection on Darwin's theory of evolution, ponders man's superior ability to ask "where do we come from?" In his master work, Rheinhold borrows the European cultural tradition of meditation on a human skull, popularized in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Our replica features the details found in the original piece including the stack of books, skull in hand and set of calipers held by the ape's foot. Historians say that the sculpture represents the question: did the ape evolve and therefore will become a man someday or was he created an ape and thus always will be an ape? Known by many different names including "Rheinhold's Monkey," "Smart Monkey," and "Monkey with Skull," our Design Toscano bronze replica is individually cast in high quality lost wax bronze, which highlights the sculptural uniqueness. Our bronze statue is then hand rubbed in a multidimensional sepia patina finish and set atop a solid black marble base. Color patina is applied by hand one piece at a time, tone may vary slightly.