A Burgher of Calais (Jean d'Aire) (Modeled 1889): Artwork and History

A Burgher of Calais (Jean d'Aire) (Modeled 1889) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Auguste Rodin (French, 1840–1917).

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

This statue is a part of the famous sculptural group The Burghers of Calais, made by Auguste Rodin to commemorate a tragic episode from the 14th century, during the Hundred Years’ War between France and England. Rodin depicted the moment when six courageous men offered them-selves as hostages to Edward III, the king of England, in exchange for the liberation of the city of Calais from a siege that had been starving inhabitants for nearly a year. This plaster statue (painted to simulate bronze) was exhibited in the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago, and entered the Art Institute’s collection that year.

Object facts

• Title: A Burgher of Calais (Jean d'Aire)
• Date: Modeled 1889
• Artist attribution: Auguste Rodin (French, 1840–1917)
• Place of origin: France
• Medium: Plaster
• Dimensions: 208.3 × 66 cm (82 × 26 in.)
• Type: Sculpture
• Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe
• Reference number: 1893.187

Collection credit

Gift of Mrs. Addie M. Hall Ellis

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The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.