Pierre de wissant auguste rodin biography
Auguste rodin the thinker.
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Masterpiece Story: The Burghers of Calais by Auguste Rodin
Auguste Rodin’s Burghers of Calais revolutionized public sculpture and changed the way heroes were represented in art. But what made it so radical to remain relevant today?
A Bit of History
The Burghers of Calais was commissioned to commemorate an event during the Hundred Years’ War.
In 1347, Edward III commanded the English forces to seize the strategically important Port of Calais. The port was besieged for eleven months. With the population starving, six burghers—the leading citizens in town—offered their lives in exchange for the ending of the siege.
Pierre de wissant auguste rodin biography
Edward then ordered them to dress in plain robes and walk barefooted like penitents, with nooses around their necks. They were to bring him the keys to the town and then be killed. However, Edward’s wife, Philippa, pleaded for clemency for the sake of her unborn child, so the king changed his mind.
The story, which had been told in Jean Froissa