View source for The Burghers of Calais

{{Short description|1889 sculpture by Auguste Rodin}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
{{Infobox artwork
| image_file = Statue bourgeois calais rodin.jpg
| image_upright      = 1
| title              = The Burghers of Calais
| artist             = [[Auguste Rodin]]
| year               = 1884&ndash;89
| type               = [[Bronze]]
| height_metric      = 201.6
| width_metric       = 205.4
| length_metric      = 195.9
| height_imperial    = {{frac|79|3|8}}
| width_imperial     = {{frac|80|7|8}}
| length_imperial    = {{frac|77|1|8}}
| metric_unit        = cm
| imperial_unit      = in
| city               = [[Calais]], France
| museum             = 
| coordinates        = {{coord|50|57|8.5|N|1|51|12|E|region:FR|display=it}} 
}}

[[File:The Burghers of Calais MET DP221863.jpg|thumb|''The Burghers'' at the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], New York]]

'''''The Burghers of Calais''''' ({{langx|fr|'''Les Bourgeois de Calais'''}}) is a sculpture by [[Auguste Rodin]] in 12 original castings and numerous copies. It commemorates an event during the [[Hundred Years' War]], when [[Calais]], a French port on the [[English Channel]], surrendered to the English after an 11-month siege. The city commissioned Rodin to create the sculpture in 1884 and the work was completed in 1889.<ref name="auto">{{cite book|last=Linduff|first=David G. Wilkins, Bernard Schultz, Katheryn M.|title=Art past, art present|date=1994|publisher=Prentice Hall|location=Englewood Cliffs, N.J.|isbn=0-13-062084-X|pages=[https://archive.org/details/artpastartpresen0002wilk/page/454 454]|edition=2nd|url=https://archive.org/details/artpastartpresen0002wilk/page/454}}</ref><ref name = NMWA/>

==History==
In 1346, England's [[Edward III of England|Edward III]], after victory in the [[Battle of Crécy]], [[Siege of Calais (1346–1347)|laid siege to Calais]], while [[Philip VI of France]] ordered the city to hold out at all costs. Philip failed to lift the siege, and starvation eventually forced the city to parley for surrender.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Wagner|first=John A.|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of the Hundred Years War|title=Calais, Siege of (1346–1347) |location=Woodbridge, Suffolk|publisher=Greenwood |date=2006b|pages=73–74|isbn=978-0313327360}}</ref>

The contemporary chronicler [[Jean Froissart]] ({{circa}} 1337 – {{circa}} 1405) tells a story of what happened next: Edward offered to spare the people of the city if six of its leaders would surrender themselves to him, presumably to be executed. Edward demanded they walk out wearing nooses around their necks, and carrying the keys to the city and castle. One of the wealthiest of the town leaders, [[Eustache de Saint Pierre]], volunteered first, and five other [[Burgher_(title)|burghers]] joined with him.<ref name = Froissart>[[Jean Froissart|Froissart, Jean]], [[Froissart's Chronicles|''Chronicles of England France, Spain, and the adjoining countries'']], (1805 translation by Thomas Jhones), Book I, [https://archive.org/stream/chroniclesengla00curngoog?ref=ol#page/n241/mode/2up Chapter 145]</ref> Saint Pierre led this envoy of volunteers to the city gates. It was this moment, and this poignant mix of defeat, heroic self-sacrifice, and willingness to face imminent death which Rodin captured in his sculpture, scaled somewhat larger than life.<ref>Jiano (1970), pp. 69, 81; Laurent (1989), p. 82</ref>

According to Froissart's story, the burghers expected to be executed, but their lives were spared by the intervention of England's queen, [[Philippa of Hainault]], who persuaded her husband to exercise mercy by claiming their deaths would be a bad omen for her unborn child.<ref name = Froissart/>

==Composition==
The City of Calais had attempted to erect a statue of Eustache de Saint Pierre, eldest of the burghers, since 1845. Two prior artists were prevented from creating the sculpture: [[David d'Angers]] by his death, and [[Auguste Clésinger]] by the [[Franco-Prussian War]]. In 1884 the municipal corporation of the city invited several artists, Rodin amongst them, to submit proposals for the project.<ref>Jianou (1970), p. 69.</ref>

Rodin's design, which included all six figures rather than just de Saint Pierre, was controversial. The public felt that it lacked "overtly heroic antique references" which were considered integral to public sculpture.<ref name="auto"/> It was not a pyramidal arrangement and contained no allegorical figures. It was intended to be placed at ground level, rather than on a pedestal. The burghers were not presented in a positive image of glory; instead, they display "pain, anguish and fatalism". To Rodin, this was nevertheless heroic, the heroism of self-sacrifice.<ref>Elsen (1963), p. 72; Laurent (1989), p. 82.</ref>

In 1895 the monument was installed in Calais on a large pedestal in front of [[Parc Richelieu]], a public park, contrary to the sculptor's wishes, who wanted contemporary townsfolk to "almost bump into" the figures and feel solidarity with them. Only later was his vision realised, when the sculpture was moved in front of the newly completed town hall of Calais, where it now rests on a much lower base.<ref>Laurent (1989), p. 89.</ref>

==Depicted persons==
The six burghers depicted are:<ref>{{cite web|title=Les Bourgeois de Calais|url=https://archivespasdecalais.fr/Decouvrir/Un-document-a-l-honneur/Les-Bourgeois-de-Calais|publisher=Archives, Pas-de-Calais|access-date=18 November 2020}}</ref>
* [[Eustache de Saint Pierre]]
* [[Jacques de Wissant]]
* [[Pierre de Wiessant|Pierre de Wissant]]
* [[Jean de Fiennes]]
* [[Andrieu d'Andres]]
* [[Jean d'Aire]]

==Casts==
[[File:The Burghers of Calais - Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden.JPG|thumb|Cast in the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.]]
Under French law, no more than 12 original casts of works of Rodin may be made.<ref>{{cite web|title=Original bronze casts|url=https://www.musee-rodin.fr/en/museum/institution/original-bronze-casts|website=Musée Rodin|access-date=6 January 2022}}</ref>

The 1895 cast of the group of six figures still stands in [[Calais]]. Other original casts stand at:

* [[Glyptoteket]] in Copenhagen, cast 1903;
* the [[Musée royal de Mariemont]] in [[Morlanwelz]], Belgium, cast 1905 (currently on loan to the city of [[Mons, Belgium|Mons]]<ref>{{cite web|title=À Mons, une colossale sculpture de Rodin séjournera pendant plusieurs mois|url=https://www.rtbf.be/article/a-mons-une-colossale-sculpture-de-rodin-sejournera-pendant-plusieurs-mois-11351807|website=RTBF|access-date=18 May 2024}}</ref>);
* [[Victoria Tower Gardens]] adjacent to the [[Houses of Parliament]] in London; cast 1908, installed on this site in 1914 and unveiled 19 July 1915;<ref>{{cite book |last=Hall | first=James |editor-first=Richard| editor-last=Verdi |title=Saved! 100 years of the National Art Collections Fund |publisher=Scala |year=2003 |pages=128–33 |chapter=Auguste Rodin, ''The Burghers of Calais''}}</ref>
* the [[Rodin Museum]] in [[Philadelphia]], cast 1925 and installed in 1929;
* the gardens of the [[Musée Rodin]] in Paris, cast 1926 and given to the museum in 1955;
* [[Kunstmuseum Basel|Kunstmuseum]] in [[Basel]], cast 1943 and installed in 1948;
* the Smithsonian [[Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden]] in Washington, DC, cast 1943 and installed in 1966;
* the [[National Museum of Western Art]] in Tokyo, cast 1953 and installed in 1959;<ref name = NMWA>{{cite web | url=http://collection.nmwa.go.jp/en/S.1959-0008.html | title=Burghers of Calais | publisher=The National Museum of Western Art | access-date=27 January 2012}}</ref>
* the [[Norton Simon Museum]] in [[Pasadena, California]], cast 1968;
* the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] in New York City, cast 1985 and installed in 1989;<ref>{{cite web|title=The Burghers of Calais|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1989.407|publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art|access-date=29 November 2012}}</ref> 
and
* [[Plateau (museum)|Plateau]] (formerly called ''Rodin Gallery'' and closed since 2016)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.plateau.or.kr/en/html/about/plateau.asp|title=Welcome – Plateau|website=plateau.or.kr|access-date=11 January 2013|archive-date=18 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181018070027/http://www.plateau.or.kr/en/html/about/plateau.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_business/741689.html|title=With restructuring, a debate rages over Samsung's precious art collection|publisher=Hankyoreh|access-date=10 October 2018}}</ref> in [[Seoul]].<ref>[http://www.plateau.or.kr/en/html/rodin/calais_submain.asp ''The Burghers of Calais''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404050412/http://www.plateau.or.kr/en/html/rodin/calais_submain.asp |date=4 April 2023 }}, Plateau 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2012.</ref> This is the twelfth and final original cast and was cast in 1995.

[[File:Les-bourgeois-de-Calais.jpg|thumb|Memorial Court, [[Stanford University]]<ref name="SIRIS">[https://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=130R508053S26.21128&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!395210~!10&ri=7&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Rodin,+Auguste,+1840-1917,+sculptor.&index=AUTHOR&uindex=&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ri=7#focus "Burghers of Calais, (sculpture)"]. ''SIRIS''</ref>]]


Copies of individual statues are:
* sculptures of all individual figures on the campus of [[Stanford University]];<ref>[http://news.stanford.edu/pr/92/920713Arc2139.html 35 works by Rodin, 7 by his contemporaries, given to Stanford] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220820041820/http://news.stanford.edu/pr/92/920713Arc2139.html |date=20 August 2022 }}, Stanford University News Service (13 July 1992)</ref><ref>[http://museum.stanford.edu/view/rodin.html Rodin! The Complete Stanford Collection], Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University</ref>
* sculptures of all individual figures (casts from 1984 till 1988) and the First [[Maquette]] of the Burghers of Calais, cast 1987, in the [[Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art]], [[Shizuoka (city)|Shizuoka City]], Japan;<ref>[https://spmoa.shizuoka.shizuoka.jp/pdf/en/guide/RodinWingGuidebook.pdf RodinWingGuidebook.pdf (spmoa.shizuoka.shizuoka.jp)]</ref>[[File:静岡県立美術館-26.JPG|thumb|338x338px|''The Burghers of Calais'', Rodin Wing, Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art]]
* sculptures of [[Jean d'Aire]] and Jean de Fiennes as well as busts of d'Aire and Pierre de Wissant on display at the [[Los Angeles County Museum of Art]] in the Sculpture Garden;<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://collections.lacma.org/node/580923|title=Auguste Rodin bio profile|website= Collections Record Listing |publisher=Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) |access-date=3 June 2020}}</ref>
* a study of Jean d'Aire at Visual Arts Center at [[Davidson College]], cast in 1972;<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.davidsoncollegeartgalleries.org/collection/campus-sculpture/|title=Davidson College Art Galleries|website=Davidson College Art Galleries|date=21 March 2012 |publisher=Davidson College|access-date=6 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://davidson.libguides.com/c.php?g=349657&p=2358466|title=Art on the Davidson College Campus|website=Auguste Rodin – Art on the Davidson College Campus|publisher=Davidson College Library|access-date=6 April 2007}}</ref> 
* "The man with the key" figure ([[Jean d'Aire]]), on the [[Sommerroparken|Sommerro Park]] in Oslo, Norway;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oslobilder.no/OMU/OB.A10040?query=%22Sommerroparken%22&count=41&search_context=1&pos=33|title=park, skulptur, Mannen med nøklene|website=oslobilder.no}}</ref> and
* a bust of Jean d'Aire, recovered a quarter mile away from [[World Trade Center site|Ground Zero]], together with other pieces from works by Rodin which were in the corporate offices of [[Cantor Fitzgerald]] at the original [[List_of_tenants_in_1_World_Trade_Center_(1971–2001)|One World Trade Center]].<ref name="Born">{{cite news |last1= Barry|first1=Dan |last2= Rashbaum|first2=William K.|date= 20 May 2002|title=Born of Hell, Lost After Inferno; Rodin Work From Trade Center Survived, and Vanished |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/20/nyregion/born-hell-lost-after-inferno-rodin-work-trade-center-survived-vanished.html|work=The New York Times|location= New York City|access-date=1 December 2017 }}</ref>

==Gallery==
{{gallery
|mode=packed
|height=150
|File:Burghers of Calais London 50593.jpg|The London cast of ''The Burghers of Calais'', with the [[Palace of Westminster]] in the background
|File:The Burghers of Calais - Canberra.jpg|Cast in the [[National Gallery of Australia]], [[Canberra]]
|File:Burghers basel.jpg|Cast in the [[Kunstmuseum Basel|Kunstmuseum]], [[Basel]]
|File:The Burghers of Calais Philadelphia.jpg|Cast in the [[Rodin Museum]], [[Philadelphia]]
|File:Auguste Rodin-Burghers of Calais-Musée Rodin.jpg|Casts in the garden of the Musée Rodin, Paris
|File:Victoria Tower gardens - Burghers of Calais, London 02.jpg|Plaque accompanying the Burghers memorial in [[Victoria Tower Gardens]], London
}}
{{gallery
|mode=packed
|height=200
|File:Bourgeois de Calais, musée Rodin.JPG|Cast in the [[Musée Rodin]], Paris
|File:P9210006.JPG|Casts in the [[Brooklyn Museum]], New York City
|File:Auguste Rodin-Pierre de wiessant-Israel Museum.jpg|Casts in the [[Israel Museum]], [[Jerusalem]]. In the foreground, the cast for ''[[Pierre de Wiessant]]''
}}

==See also==
*[[List of sculptures by Auguste Rodin]]
*''[[The Zionist Journey]]''

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* Elsen, Albert E. (1963). ''Rodin''. New York: Museum of Modern Art.
* Jianou, Ionel (1970, transl. Kathleen Muston and Geoffrey Skelding). ''Rodin''. Paris: ARTED.
* Laurent, Monique (1988, transl. 1989 by Emily Read). ''Rodin''. New York: Konecky & Konecky. {{ISBN|1-56852-173-1}}.

==Further reading==
* Benedek, Nelly Silagy (2000). [https://books.google.com/books?id=0qWOq8VteBYC ''Rodin • The Burghers of Calais'']. New York: [[The Metropolitan Museum of Art]]. {{ISBN|0-87099-948-6}}.
* {{cite book|last1=Chevillot|first1=Catherine|last2=Marraud|first2=Hélène|last3=Pinet|first3=Hélène|last4=[[John Adamson (publisher)|Adamson, John]] (transl.)|title=Rodin: The Laboratory of Creation|year= 2014|publisher=Éditions Faton|location=Dijon|isbn=978-2878442007}}
* {{cite book|last1=Le Normand-Romain|first1=Antoinette|title=Rodin|year=2014|publisher=Abbeville|location=New York|isbn=978-0789212078}}

==External links==
*{{commonscat inline|Les Bourgeois de Calais}}
* [https://sketchfab.com/models/387889bbe73648c38589a3fffd1f876c# Interactive 3D imagery of ''The Burghers of Calais'']
* [http://www.musee-rodin.fr/en/collections/sculptures/monument-burghers-calais Link to ''The Burghers of Calais''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226044839/http://www.musee-rodin.fr/en/collections/sculptures/monument-burghers-calais |date=26 February 2021 }} on the official website of the Musée Rodin.
*''[http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/99556 Rodin: The B. Gerald Cantor Collection]'', a full text exhibition catalogue from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on ''The Burghers of Calais''.
* Link to account of the theft and recovery of ''The Burghers of Calais'' during WWII:<br>[http://magazine.williams.edu/2013/fall/feature/a-monumental-achievement/ ''Williams College Magazine''], Fall 2013.
*[https://frenchsculpture.org/ FRENCH SCULPTURE CENSUS - French sculpture 1500-1960 in North American public collections]

{{Auguste Rodin|state=expanded}}
{{Public art in London|other works}}

{{ACArt}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burghers of Calais, The}}
[[Category:Sculptures by Auguste Rodin]]
[[Category:Calais]]
[[Category:1889 sculptures]]
[[Category:Outdoor sculptures in France]]
[[Category:Outdoor sculptures in London]]
[[Category:Sculptures in the Norton Simon Museum]]
[[Category:Bronze sculptures in Paris]]
[[Category:Bronze sculptures in Japan]]
[[Category:Bronze sculptures in the City of Westminster]]
[[Category:Bronze sculptures in the United States]]
[[Category:Bronze sculptures]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in the City of Westminster]]
[[Category:Statues in Japan]]
[[Category:Statues in France]]
[[Category:Monuments and memorials in the Pas-de-Calais]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Victoria Tower Gardens]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures on the River Thames]]
[[Category:Sculptures in the Musée Rodin]]
[[Category:Outdoor sculptures in Paris]]