This is the final version of a small damned soul, on the extreme right of the tympanum of The Gates of Hell, stretching her neck in the "admirable movement of a weeping willow". It became a figure in its own right at the end of the 1880s when Rodin used it to illustrate a poem by Baudelaire, "The Beauty", from the copy of Les Fleurs du Mal belonging to Paul Gallimard. However, to incorporate it in the Gates, Rodin had to remove the arms, which were unsuitable, and knock off one knee and the outer part of the right leg. The result was a fragmentary figure, which was enlarged, exhibited in Paris in 1896, and cast in this form during his lifetime. It was like this that she appeared perfect in the eyes of Rodin, it was in this shape that she responded ideally to his aspirations. Completely absorbed in herself, with a shape that is as graceful as it is powerful, the armless version of Meditation or The Inner Voice is one of the keys to understanding Rodin. "The study of nature is complete here and I have made every effort to render art as whole as possible. I consider this plaster to be one of my best finished works, the most perfect (sic)".
