Information on Auguste Rodin [say oh-GOOST RO-DAN] French, 1840–1917 The Burghers of Calais, late 1890s Bronze Museum purchase and Gift of the Tobin Foundation 1963.1.1–5

Eustache de Saint-Pierre Jean d’Aire Pierre de Wissant Jean de Fiennes Andrieu d’Andres

Subject Matter In 1347, according to historian Jean Froissart, after an eleven-month siege of the key French port city of Calais, England’s King Edward III was victorious and demanded the death of all the citizens of Calais (not an uncommon demand for victors in the 14th century). Persuaded by his soldiers to take a more lenient tack, he asked that six of the town’s citizens be sacrificed in place of the whole town; they were to present themselves at his camp, wearing sackcloth, nooses around their necks, and carrying the keys of the city. They did this, but at the last moment Queen Philippa begged her husband to grant them mercy.

Only five burghers were represented in the reductions (see below) that were made of Rodin’s full size figures (see Technique) and these are the five in the McNay’s collection:

Eustache de Saint-Pierre (18 5/8 in. high): The first to volunteer and the richest burgher in the town. Froissart quotes him as saying “Gentlemen, it would be a great shame to allow so many people to starve to death, if there were any way of preventing it. And it would be highly pleasing to Our Lord if anyone could save them such a fate. I have such faith and trust in gaining pardon and grace from Our Lord if I die in the attempt that I will put myself forward as first.”

Jean d’Aire (18 3/8 in. high): The mayor, who was described as having two lovely daughters.

Pierre de Wissant (17 3/4 in. high): The younger of the two brothers who volunteered at the same time (his brother is the missing sixth burgher).

Jean de Fiennes (18 3/16 in. high): The youngest man to volunteer.

Andrieu d’Andres (15 15/16 in. high): The last man to volunteer.

theMcNay Auguste Rodin [say oh-GOOST RO-DAN] The Burghers of Calais, late 1890s

About the Artist Born in Paris, Auguste Rodin was drawing avidly by the age of nine, but his family’s limited means allowed little opportunity for training. From 1854 to 1857, he studied at the ”Petite École” or École Impériale Spéciale de Dessin et de Mathématiques. He frequented exhibitions and the Louvre Museum, sketching antiquities. He also studied literature, reading Dante and Hugo among others.

Although he won medals for draftsmanship and modeling at design school, Rodin’s three attempts to gain entrance to the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts, or ”Grande École,” met with failure. Without graduating from the École, his future did not seem very promising. From 1857 to the early 1880s, Rodin held various odd jobs with artisans and craftsmen, including commercial decorators, jewelers, sculptors and architectural ornament makers.

In 1871, Rodin moved to Belgium where he began to exhibit his sculpture and to support himself making portraits. In 1875, for the first time he exhibited in the Paris salon. That same year he traveled to Italy, where the study of Renaissance art, especially that of Michelangelo, reinforced his determination to succeed as a sculptor. The Paris Salon of 1877 accepted Rodin’s life-size male nude, The Age of Bronze. Some believed the highly naturalistic work had been cast from life, an allegation that troubled Rodin. But the controversy served to spread his fame, and that same year he returned to Paris for good.

In 1880, the French government purchased The Age of Bronze, and gave him the commission for the doors of a proposed new museum of decorative arts. Inspired by Dante’s Inferno and known as The Gates of Hell, this project helped to free Rodin from exhibiting annually. His well-known Thinker sits at the top of these doors. Commissions began to come from both public and private sources, with portraits being in high demand. In 1884, the city of Calais approached him to make a monument to the burghers of Calais (see Subject Matter).

In 1894, Rodin moved to Meudon, where he lived for the rest of his life. A small army of professionals helped him to fill orders for his works. In 1900, he presented the first major retrospective of his art in conjunction with the Paris Universal Exhibition, in a pavilion he had erected. At his death, Rodin bequeathed his property and large collection of sculptures, drawings, and photographs to the nation as a permanent art museum.

Technique Rodin’s sculpture of the six burghers of Calais was commissioned as a monument for the city of Calais. The McNay’s five small bronze figures are reductions made after the original studies for the larger than life-size monument. In 1885, when Rodin sent a maquette (model) to Calais the citizens committee was highly critical, feeling that the group “leaves much to be desired from the point of view of elegance.” Rodin made a few modifications. He wanted his monument to inspire the citizens of Calais by the very real human emotions represented (see Quote from the Artist).

The sculptures were cast by the lost wax method (in French, cire perdue). A positive inner form and a negative outer mold are built so that a narrow space exists between the two, with pins to hold them apart. Wax fills this space, and takes on the shape of the final sculpture. When the whole arrangement is heated, the wax drains out (is lost) and molten metal is poured in to replace it. The metal sculpture undergoes finishing by the artist. Chemicals are applied to the surface of the sculpture to give it the desired patina.

theMcNay Auguste Rodin [say oh-000ST RO-DAN] The Burghers of Calais, late 1890s

Quote from the Artist I did not hesitate to make them as thin and as weak as possible. If, in order to respect some academic convention or other, l had tried to show bodies that were still agreeable to look at, I would have betrayed my subject. These people, having passed through the privations of a long siege, no longer have anything but skin on their bones. The more frightful my representation of them, the more people should praise me for knowing how to show the truth of history.

. . . between their devotion to their cause and their fear of dying, each of them is isolated in front of his conscience. They are still questioning themselves to know if they have the strength to accomplish the supreme sacrifice—their soul pushes them onward, but their feet refuse to walk.

Technique Line: Look at the lines of the arms, hands, and shoulders of each figure. Notice the angles of the elbows on different figures. What sorts of feelings do these lines express? Look also at the lines of mouths and eyebrows on the men’s faces.

Space: Are the forms of the figures open or closed? [Explain meaning of open and closed forms.] Look at each figure carefully for the overall positive space and any negative space enclosed by the figure. Are there any differences in the emotions of the figures that are more open, with arms away from the body, and the closed figures with arms close to the body?

Texture: Find some areas that are smooth as well as some that are rough. Are there more rough or smooth textures? How would the emotional expression of the piece be different if the textures were all smooth like the Maillol nude?

Strategies for Tours Primary Grades (ages 6–8): Is this a painting or sculpture? Are these figures happy or sad? What parts of their bodies tell us they are sad? [Tell the story without any historical references. Be sure to include the happy ending about Queen Philippa’s mercy. Ask students to divide into pairs, with one being the sculptor and the other the sculpture. Let them try to create statues.] Upper Elementary (ages 9–11): [Tell the story and ask students to look at the faces of each burgher [see line above]. Can they figure out which burgher was the first to volunteer, which was the youngest, which was the mayor of the town, which two were brothers? Ask if they can see differences in how each burgher feels about the situation. Explore the medium and technique of bronze casting.] Middle School/High School (ages 12–18): [Use questions like the one below to stimulate critical thinking.] Why do you think Saint-Pierre volunteered to be first? How would you feel if you were the youngest, Jean de Fiennes? Why would Kind Edward III demand such a horrible payment? How must the English have felt about the French? Are there any groups in the world today who feel this way about one another? What about Queen Philippa’s actions? How do you think she might have convinced Edward to change his mind? Can you think of other examples today or in history when individuals have made supreme sacrifices for the good of a larger group? [Don’t let them forget what our own military does whenever they are asked to defend our way of life or even to go on a humanitarian mission.] Do you care enough about anything or anyone to make this kind of sacrifice? [Not a question to be answered just one to think about.] Do you know anyone who would do this for you?

Sources Worth Consulting Blackburn, Rachel, et. al., Rodin: A Magnificent Obsession. London: Merrell Publishers Limited, 2001. Elsen, Albert, and McNamara, Mary Jo. Rodin’s Burghers of Calais. The Cantor, Fitzgerald Group, 1977 Goldscheider, Cécile. Auguste Rodin: Catalogue Raisonné de l’Oeuvre Sculpté. Paris: Wildenstein Institute, 1989. Tancock, John L. The Sculpture of Auguste Rodin. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1976, pp. 376–90.

Prepared by Rose M. Glennon Date 8/31/93 theMcNay