The Burghers Of Calais, by Rodin, in London

by Al Bourassa

Title

The Burghers Of Calais, by Rodin, in London

Artist

Al Bourassa

Medium

Photograph - Photographic Artworks

Description

The Burghers of Calais (French: Les Bourgeois de Calais) is a sculpture by Auguste Rodin, that exists in twelve original castings, and numerous copies. It commemorates an event during the Hundred Years' War, when Calais, a French port on the English Channel, was under siege by the English for about eleven months. Calais commissioned Rodin to create the sculpture in 1884 and the work was completed in 1889.
In 1346, England's Edward III, after a victory in the Battle of Crécy, 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.
The contemporary chronicler Jean Froissart (c. 1337 – c. 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 that 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 burghers joined with him. 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 that Rodin captured in his sculpture, scaled somewhat larger than life.
The six burghers depicted are: Eustache de Saint Pierre, Jacques de Wissant, Pierre de Wissant, Jean de Fiennes, Andrieu d'Andres, Jean d'Aire.
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 that their deaths would be a bad omen for her unborn child.
This larger-than-life statue sits outside of England's Parliament buildings.
This digitally altered artwork is derived from a photograph taken Feb 27, 2009 during a tour of Western Europe.
Final processing done with Smart Photo Editor and Photoshop.
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January 5th, 2021

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