Inaugurated in 1948, the museum houses numerous plasters, including casts for Rodin’s monumental works in their successive stages: The Gates of Hell, The Burghers of Calais, several studies for Balzac and the monuments to Victor Hugo, Puvis de Chavannes and Whistler. Since they represent the first step in his creative process, prior to being cast in bronze or carved in marble, their importance is undeniable. Rodin used to make a series of plaster casts for every sculpture that he conceived and thus kept a record of each phase of his work. He therefore had multiple figures at his disposal which he could then modify, transform or combine with other pieces, thus inventing his own sculptural language.