Joel Saget, AFP | The bronze sculpture 'The Thinker' (Le Penseur) (R) is pictured next to the marble sculpture 'The Kiss' (Le Baiser) by French sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840 - 1917) at the Musee Rodin in Paris on November 6, 2015

Paris' historic Rodin Museum, until recently plagued by a leaking roof, peeling gold leaf and creaky floorboards, has been returned to its former splendor following a 16 million euro ($17.4 million) three-year restoration.

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The works mark the first time the 18th-century Hotel Biron has been fully revamped since influential French sculptor Auguste Rodin, who died in 1917, used the palatial building as his studio.

The museum reopens its gilded doors to the public Nov. 12, on Rodin's 175th birthday. It boasts new rooms, over 200 new sculptures, state-of-the-art pedestals and - for the first time - toilets and wheelchair access.

It followed pressure to bring the impressive, but aging, townhouse up to modern requirements.

France's Culture Minister Fleur Pellerin called the museum restoration a "moral duty."

(AP)



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