Citizens of Calais

Mediums: bronze.
Location: The Town Hall Square in Calais (France).

The work is based on the story of how several citizens of Calais voluntarily sacrificed themselves to save their hometown. Wearing nooses on their necks, six rich and famous residents of the city came out of the gate to give keys to the winners and be executed. This extraordinary act inspired Auguste Rodin so much that he agreed to create a composition of six for the price of one sculpture since the Calais’s authorities could not offer a large payment. The master put a particular character, pain and experience into each figure, uniting them with a consciousness of the imminent death and a high sense of duty. The author decided that the sculpture should be placed at ground level, without a high pedestal and fence, so that each person could come up and “communicate” with the heroes of the composition, touch the beautiful, feel the strength of mind and will of these people.