Dome

Jean de Fiennes, frontal view of the upper torso and head; In late 1884 Rodin secured the civic commission for a monument to the Burghers of Calais who in 1347 had offered their lives to the English in return for ending their siege. Although commissioned to depict only the leading burgher, Eustache de St Pierre, Rodin decided to show all six, realizing each individually, first nude and then draped, in progressively larger stages, until the final scale of 2 m in height. Grouped one behind another in a ring, these gaunt figures express indecision as much as self-sacrifice. After delays caused by disapproval of the composition and financial problems within the city government, the final work was unveiled in Calais, in front of the Hôtel de Ville, in June 1895. Before 1917 three more casts were made, one of which was purchased in 1911 by the National Art Collections Fund for the Victoria Tower Gardens, London (Rodin envisaged the monument high on a pedestal, silhouetted against the Houses of Parliament). There are seven additional casts and many bronzes of the individual burghers (e.g. Geneva, Mus. A. & Hist.; Minneapolis, MN, Inst. A.; Paris, Mus. Rodin). Stanford's group are independant casts. Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.oxfordartonline.com/ (accessed 7/16/2010)