The Burghers of Calais
The title is The Burghers of Calais. I don’t know what a Burgher is or where Calais is. This seems to be a scene of despair. The six men are frozen in a bronze cast- frozen in time. Their robes and their bare feet remind me of peasants from the Middle Ages. Each man seems to be experiencing emotional distress as well as physical neglect. The deep contours of their skin and robes reveals the bareness of their bones. Their heads are bowed in all directions sensing a bleak and hopeless fate. If I saw them in real life, I think they’d be crying. The one holding a key with the despair of acceptance on his face has tears welling in his eyes.
Calais, France: A War Centuries Ago
The sculpture depicts an event from the Hundred Years’ War between France and England.¹ In fourteenth century France, the port city of Calais was approached by King Edward Ⅲ of England. In order for English forces to have mercy on the city, the citizens needed to surrender the keys of the city and six of their leaders. Removing the leaders of a group certainly weakens it. The six members that offered their lives in exchange for the city were Eustache de Saint-Pierre, Jean d’Aire, Andrieu d’Andres, Jean de Fiennes, and Pierre and Jacques de Wissant. Their lives were surprisingly spared.
Augustine Rodin was commissioned by the city of Calais in 1885 to commemorate the heroism of Eustache de Saint-Pierre. He was the foremost leader of Calais. However, the city was not pleased by Rodin’s piece. They questioned Rodin’s sculpture of defeat and despair. In addition, he had six men in it instead of the one, de Saint-Pierre, they wanted to highlight. Rodin decidedly captured the moment in which the men prepared to die. His sculpture allows all of the men to be honored for their sacrifice in the face of fear. Rodin’s choice to tell a specific part of the story of the burghers of Calais gives agency to connection. The fact that a still moment, whether fictional or not, whether tragic or good, can create connection is part of what makes art about war critical. Rodin’s inclusion of their emotions made these figures timeless and relatable. Anxiety, helplessness, fear, and sacrifice are part of our common experience. To bring the audience closer to this piece, Rodin cast another version to be placed at street level. Now, the audience is with the men instead of remaining a sympathizing outsider.
¹Elisabeth Rowney, "Auguste Rodin, The Burghers of Calais," in Smarthistory, August 9, 2015, accessed January 2, 2021, https://smarthistory.org/rodin-the-burghers-of-calais/.