In this third version of his figure, Rodin casts Balzac as a man of knowledge surrounded by the wealth of his literary accomplishments. Balzac stands with a stack of books propped against the lower right edge of his robe; he holds a manuscript in his right hand. The effectiveness of the essentially static pose relies on the great mass and frontality of the figure. Unlike  the figure in earlier studies, this Balzac leans back and addresses the viewer in a frank but formal manner. The facial expression is enigmatic: is Balzac haught or about to smile?

Rodin's starting points for this image of the writer were eye witness descriptions and portraits of Balzac (1799-1850), the most prolific French novelist of the first half of the nineteenth century. According to Alphone de Lamartine, Balzac "always appeared dressed in a long robe of white cashmere cut like that of a monk and bound with a silk cord about his waist."

Louis Boulanger's half-length portrait of 1837 shows the writer in precisely this attire. Using this historical imagery as point of departure, Rodin animates the figure through emphasis on the grand leonine head, framed on its right side by the upturned cowl of the robe.