An ancient French chronicle tells that during the Hundred Years' War, in the 14th century, the city of Calais was besieged by the troops of the English king Edward III and suffered famine and cruel deprivation. Exhausted and desperate residents were ready to ask for mercy from the enemy, but he set a heartless condition: the six most respected townspeople had to come to him and surrender to his will; and these six inhabitants of Calais - so demanded the arrogant enemy - were obliged to leave the city and appear before the king in only linen shirts, with naked heads, with a rope around their necks and with the keys to the city gates in their hands.
Francois Auguste René Rodin (1840-1917) Citizens of Calais. 1884-1888 Les Bourgeois de Calais Calais
The French chronicler goes on to say that the burgomaster, sir Jean de Vienne, having received this notification, ordered the citizens to be called to the market square by ringing the bells. Hearing from his lips about the British demand, the meeting was silent for a long time until six volunteered to go to certain death. Shouts and groans rang through the crowd. One of the six, Eustache de Saint-Pierre, was the biggest rich man in the city, the other - Jean d'Her - lived in honor and prosperity and had two beautiful young daughters. The third and fourth - Jean and Pierre de Wissans - were brothers, also from among wealthy citizens.
Francois Auguste René Rodin (1840-1917) Citizens of Calais. 1884-1888 Les Bourgeois de Calais Calais
It is not surprising that the story of the “six from Calais” became a popular, “textbook” story in France. The events described took place shortly before the heroic epic of Joan of Arc and were associated with the course of the same war of the French people against foreign troops invading France. The heroes of the feat were representatives of the urban bourgeoisie. This circumstance was especially significant for the glorification and perpetuation of the episode in Calais. In the end The 19th century bourgeoisie was reluctant to remember the great heroes of its revolutionary past - the Marats, Dantons, Robespierres. The greater the halo it surrounded the memory of people who, even in very ancient times, could imagine it as a bearer of general civic virtues, an image of readiness for self-sacrifice and love for the homeland.
Francois Auguste René Rodin (1840-1917) Citizens of Calais. 1884-1888 Les Bourgeois de Calais Calais
The idea to commemorate the feat of six citizens by installing a monument in the main city square came from the municipality of Calais. The intention was to erect a statue, rather of an allegorical nature, designed to remind of a long-standing event that took place in the city.
Auguste Rodin, having received this order in 1884, created a group of six figures. He rejected the idea of a “collective” or symbolic image, turning to the true picture of the event and its real characters. “Citizens of Calais” turned out to be a new type of multi-figure monument, new not only in its compositional structure, but also in the very understanding of the monumental image.
Francois Auguste René Rodin (1840-1917) Citizens of Calais. 1884-1888 Les Bourgeois de Calais Calais
Rodin worked on his “Citizens of Calais” during a period when French sculpture was almost completely dominated by the “salon” - a smoothed-out and thoughtless art that fed on the academic remnants of a once living classicism. A monument to patriotism and civic self-sacrifice was a rare and significant event under these conditions. The theme of patriotic feat required a monumental embodiment, long forgotten in the prosaic everyday life of the Third Republic and its official art.
Francois Auguste René Rodin (1840-1917) Citizens of Calais. 1884-1888 Les Bourgeois de Calais Calais
Rodin proposed a solution as unusual as the very concept of civic heroism was unusual in this time of small deeds.
Six figures, sculpted after a long search for preparatory studies, represent a rare experience in the history of monumental sculpture in the plastic interpretation of a feat as a drama of human characters.
The bearded man fixed his heavy gaze on the ground. He walks with heavy steps. It's as if he doesn't see anything around him. Among six people so unexpectedly connected to each other by fate, he is left alone with himself. His determination is unshakable, but still he asks - fate? sky? -most likely, himself about the meaning or nonsense of what is happening, about imminent death without any guilt, about the impossibility of changing this fatal course of things.
Francois Auguste René Rodin (1840-1917) Citizens of Calais. 1884-1888 Fragment
Francois Auguste René Rodin (1840-1917) Citizens of Calais. 1884-1888 Fragment
Another human type, another character and another drama are represented by the figure of a younger city dweller, holding his head with both hands. Deep and bitter thought, almost despair, is expressed by this gesture at the first glance at the figure. Peering into the bowed face, covered on both sides by bare hands, one can read something else: not the man’s fear for his personal fate, but the bitter anxiety that gripped his entire being in these moments of defeat.
Francois Auguste René Rodin (1840-1917) Citizens of Calais. 1884-1888 Fragment
A slightly different psychological shade is captured in the figure of a man who pressed his hand to his forehead and eyes, as if protecting himself from the inevitable and terrible thing that threatens him and everyone. The laconic, highly vital gesture speaks of the clash between faith in life and the inevitability of senseless death, between the sense of self-preservation and the duty of self-sacrifice - a clash that is conveyed in this figure, perhaps, by the most meager means.
Francois Auguste René Rodin (1840-1917) Citizens of Calais. 1884-1888 Fragment
Francois Auguste René Rodin (1840-1917) Citizens of Calais. 1884-1888 Fragment
The fourth hero is extremely clearly characterized - a round-headed, middle-aged man with the key to the city in his hand. His stubborn head is raised, he looks straight ahead, his hand tightly grips a huge key - a symbol of surrender to the mercy of the winner. This man is wearing the same wide and long shirt as everyone else, the same rope around his neck, but he wears this prisoner’s clothing like a priestly cassock, and the shameful noose seems to be part of the clergyman’s attire.
Francois Auguste René Rodin (1840-1917) Citizens of Calais. 1884-1888 Fragment
Unlike the two neighboring figures - a man with a beard and the one who covered his head with his hands - this city dweller is depicted motionless, as if frozen, before taking a decisive step. A sloping forehead, a slightly protruding lower jaw, tightly compressed lips, a hooked nose - the large features of a rough, shaved face speak of a stubborn will, perhaps fanaticism. Large hands tightly grip a heavy key - a material sign of the tragedy being experienced, and the greatest tension is invested in this simple and seemingly passive gesture, emphasized by the calm immobility of the figure.
Francois Auguste René Rodin (1840-1917) Citizens of Calais. 1884-1888 Fragment
The psychological antithesis of this statue is the adjacent figure of a man with his right hand raised upward. If others hide their protest deep inside, withdraw with their anger and despair into themselves, then this city dweller brings his protesting thought and will to the world, more than the world - to the higher powers that rule the world. A hand raised to the sky in an inquiring and reproaching gesture is a challenge to these higher powers, a demand for an answer for the lawlessness and injustice that has befallen innocent people, their lives, their wives and children, their hometown, their native land.
Francois Auguste René Rodin (1840-1917) Citizens of Calais. 1884-1888 Fragment
The movement of the right arm, bent at the elbow, sharply highlights this figure. Here, for the first and last time, a person’s thought is not limited to the earthly circle, but breaks through upward, turning to the deity, moreover, not with a prayer or even a call for intervention, but with an angry reproach. In this gesture one can read both a puzzled question and bitter disappointment - disbelief in the very possibility of divine justice, the very existence of the highest truth. This is also indicated by the mouth, half-open in a sorrowful curve, and the gaze downward, as if arguing with the gesture of the hand. This gesture is the most complex in meaning and expression: the “reference” to the sky has the character of a philosophical result of the entire episode, a result that returns the dramatic conflict to its true root cause, rooted in man himself and in human relationships.
Francois Auguste René Rodin (1840-1917) Citizens of Calais. 1884-1888 Fragment
Next to this man, facing the other five, on the left edge of the group, stands a man with a stern, noble face, with long hair, with his arms lowered along his body and open in a gesture of question and doubt. If the previous character, the one who raised his hand, is addressed in addition to the sky to one of his comrades, then precisely to this neighbor. Is it not he who was the first to respond to the words of the burgomaster and now turns to his comrades who share his call and his fate, with silent confirmation of the inevitability of the decision made?
Francois Auguste René Rodin (1840-1917) Citizens of Calais. 1884-1888 Fragment
The tragic in “The Citizens of Calais” goes far beyond the plot of the story about the feat of French patriots of the 14th century. The inner world of people of the feudal Middle Ages is endowed with the features of Rodin's modernity, contradictions and doubts, more likely characteristic of a person at the end of the 19th century. Along with the tragedy of duty and self-sacrifice, Rodin's heroes also experience another tragedy - the tragedy of loneliness, insurmountable even at a moment when, it would seem, the public dominates over everything personal. And although all six who make up this tragic group are united by a single will and their behavior is dictated by the same categorical dictate of social duty, each of them remains immersed in his own tightly closed spiritual world. Sacrificing their lives, Rodin’s people remain “alone with themselves” even in these moments of high moral uplift.
Individualism, which tried to present itself in various forms as the philosophical basis of artistic creativity, left its stamp on Rodin’s quest. It is in this sense that we can talk about the impact of the decadence of the late 19th century on his work.
The group is deprived of a common base or pedestal - all the figures, according to the sculptor’s plan, were supposed to stand directly on the ground and grow out of it. The sculptor's intentions in this part were violated when the monument was erected on the site in 1895: at the request of the municipality of Calais and despite Rodin's objections, the figures were raised onto a specially constructed high pedestal. A piece of the city square - the site of a long-standing incident - is the arena of sculptural action.
There is also no general architectural background of the monument, like the pylon in front of which the volunteers of Ryudov’s “Marseillaise” set out on a campaign. The background for “The Citizens of Calais” is only air, only free space, readable in the gaps between the figures, in the gaps formed by the movements of the hands, turns of the heads, and clothes. This “background” envelops each figure, forcing the viewer to gaze intently not so much at the group as a whole, but at each individual sculpture.
It is very instructive to continue comparing Rodin’s sculptural group with Rud’s “Marseillaise” - the sculptural group of the Arch of Triumph on the Place des Stars in Paris. This comparison is all the more appropriate since both works, separated by an interval of fifty years, are close to each other in their theme; moreover, in both cases this theme is expressed by a sculptural composition of the same number of figures.
The fate of the Ryudov volunteers is clear - after all, it is shown right there: it is she, the winged Freedom, who leads them on a campaign, inspires them, calls them to fight for a common goal. The fate of the six citizens of Calais is a dark, hanging sentence; this fate requires sacrifice for the sake of sacrifice, it is senselessly cruel, like the very whim of a feudal lord taking hostages from a defenseless city.
That is why the eyes of the volunteers setting out on the campaign are so open and clear, their step is so confident, the rhythm of this procession is so upbeat, so numbly static, internally constrained are the figures of the citizens of the city of Calais, going to the enemy’s camp.
Francois Auguste René Rodin (1840-1917) Citizens of Calais. 1884-1888 Les Bourgeois de Calais Calais
The sculptor arranges these figures no longer in a compact, close-knit group passing in front of the viewer, but in the form of a disorganized group of individual statues. This group does not have its own frontal facade; it requires many viewing points. Moreover, the composition of the group does not allow all six statues to be seen simultaneously; at least one of them is obscured by a neighboring figure.
Francois Auguste René Rodin (1840-1917) Citizens of Calais. 1884-1888 Les Bourgeois de Calais
That is why there is no photograph of the Rodin monument that would show all six heroes. From each new point new relationships of figures appear, various gaps between them. This intermittent silhouette and equally intermittent rhythm reinforce the impression of the contradictory complexity of what is happening.
D.E.ARKIN. Images of architecture and images of sculpture. 1990
In 1845, the municipality of Calais wanted to build a monument. It was about the monument to Eustache de Saint-Pierre, one of the richest and most famous citizens of the city.
In 1347 Calais, after a long siege, fell. The English king Edward III promised to spare the inhabitants of the city, limiting himself only to total expulsion, if six eminent citizens handed over the keys of the city to him, appearing at the English camp barefoot and undressed, with a rope around their necks. The first to volunteer to go to execution was the elderly townsman Eustache de Saint-Pierre. After him, amid nationwide grief, five more citizens followed.
Edward III wanted to execute them, but the queen, a native of Flanders, threw herself on her knees before him and begged forgiveness for her compatriots.
Initially, the monument was commissioned from the major French sculptor David of Angers. Sketches were made. David presented a project in the style of monuments to Roman emperors, a kind of heroic stylization. But it was not possible to cast the statue: at first there was not enough money, and then other events overwhelmed the project. Then David of Angers died.
In 1884, the municipality of Calais turned to Rodin. The artist was fascinated by the topic, and he proposed to immortalize all six participants in the memorable event, captured by the chronicler of the Hundred Years' War, Froissart.
Rodin depicted the vicissitudes of this event with such a force of direct experience that only an eyewitness can experience.
This reflected not only the gift of historical insight. Rodin, like most Frenchmen, still had fresh memories of 1871, the courage of the franc-tireurs, the reprisals of hostages by the German authorities, and the executions of the heroes of the Paris Commune.
At the very beginning of the work, Rodin noted: “The idea seems to me absolutely original - both from the point of view of architecture and from the point of view of sculpture. However, so is the plot itself, which in itself is heroic and implies an ensemble of six figures united by a common fate , general emotions and general expression."
Gradually, general considerations take on more and more specific outlines. As A. Romm writes: “Roden’s theme is self-sacrifice, voluntary martyrdom. In the art of previous centuries one cannot list such images. Rodin was the first to reveal this theme in a deeply human aspect and with inexorable truthfulness. He showed the struggle of a sense of duty with the fear of death, the mental anguish of the doomed Two people (Andrier d'Andre and Jean de Fienne) succumbed to despair and horror - half covering their faces with their palms, they bent over almost to the ground. But these weak in spirit, reminiscent of the “Shadows” from “The Gates of Hell,” are only a psychological background that highlights the heroic motif. As in a musical symphony, two different themes with complex psychological variations are intertwined here. The man with the key (Jean d'Her) stood up proudly, his posture is full of dignity, despite the humiliating outfit and the hanged man's rope, his face shows restrained indignation and determination. With difficulty he carries the key - a symbol of surrender, like a heavy load.
Walking nearby, Eustache de Saint-Pierre, pensive, bent with age, sacrifices the rest of his days without excessive regrets. His reconciliation and detachment from life highlight the spiritual struggle of a person with a key, visible through artificial calm. This is a heroic couple. Both overcame the fear of death and came to terms with their fate. They are closed in on themselves, isolated from the weaker, turning their backs to them. But here is the third couple (the Wissan brothers), personifying more effective heroism. They reach out to those who are lagging behind and weak. One raised his hand like a speaker. In this dying hour, they find strength and the necessary words for conviction and encouragement. On their faces - instead of the gloomy determination of the previous couple - there is ascetic enlightenment, clarity of spirit.
Thus, having differentiated his heroes according to the degree of readiness for heroism and death, Rodin unfolded an entire psychological drama in its consistent development. He created clear individual characters, the essence of which is revealed in these decisive, tragic moments." And here is what Rilke wrote about Rodin's work on "The Citizens of Calais": "Gestures surfaced in his brain, gestures of refusal of all things, gestures of farewell, gestures of renunciation, gestures, gestures and gestures. He collected them, memorized them, selected them. Hundreds of heroes crowded into his imagination, and he made six of them.
He sculpted them naked, each individually, in all the eloquent expressiveness of their bodies trembling from cold and excitement, in all the greatness of the decision they made.
He created the figure of an old man with limply hanging, angular arms and endowed him with a heavy, shuffling gait, the eternal gait of old people, and an expression of fatigue on his face. He created a man carrying a key. In him, in this man, there would be enough reserves of life for many more years, but now they are all squeezed into these suddenly approaching last hours. His lips are pressed together, his hands clutching the key. He was proud of his strength, and now it is boiling over in him in vain.
He created a man who clasped his drooping head with both hands, as if to gather his thoughts, to remain alone with himself for one more moment. He sculpted both brothers. One of them still looks back, the other bows his head with submissive determination, as if already presenting it to the executioner.
And he created the unsteady and uncertain gesture of “a man walking through life.” He walks, he is already walking, but once again he turns back, saying goodbye not to the city, not to the crying townspeople, not even to those who walk next to him, but to himself. His right hand rises, bends, hangs, the palm opens and seems to be releasing something... This is goodbye...
This statue, placed in an old dark garden, could become a monument to all the untimely deaths. Rodin breathed life into each of the men going to death, endowing them with the last gestures in this life.”
In July 1885, the sculptor sent his second and final version (one-third the size) to Calais. However, the customer did not like his ideas. “This is not how we imagined our famous fellow citizens going to the camp of the English king,” committee members wrote to the sculptor without hiding their disappointment. “Their pitiful poses offend our most sacred feelings. The silhouette leaves a lot to be desired in terms of elegance. The artist should have made the ground flatter.” under the feet of his heroes and, above all, to free himself from the monotony and dryness of the silhouette, giving his characters different heights... We also cannot help but draw your attention to the fact that Eustache de Saint-Pierre is dressed in a robe made of coarse material instead of light clothes mentioned in the story. We are forced to insist that Mr. Rodin change the appearance of his characters and the silhouette of the entire group."
Some metropolitan newspapers also published devastating articles against Rodin. The sculptor is not afraid to enter into a discussion with his opponents: “How should heads form a pyramid?.. But this is simply the academy imposing its dogmas on me here. I was and remain a direct opponent of this principle, which has dominated our era since the beginning of the century, but which contradicts the previous great eras of art... The critics of the newspaper "Patriot Calais" obviously believe that Eustache de Saint-Pierre is standing before the English king. But no! He leaves the city and goes down to the camp. "Eustache is the first to set off, and for his lines it is necessary that he be what he is."
Rodin refuses to change anything in his composition. He was lucky - the mayor of Calais was on his side, although his opponents did not lay down their arms.
The sculptor continues his work and in the spring of 1889 he completes the entire group. Here it becomes completely clear that the city does not have money for bronze casting. Meanwhile, the group takes up too much space in the workshop and has to be moved to the old stable. So, in the corner of the old stable, the “Citizens of Calais” are still waiting for their fate to be decided. Members of the municipality suggest that Rodin limit himself to one figure of Eustache de Saint-Pierre. The conflict is gradually spreading beyond Calais.
In December 1894, the French Ministry of the Interior makes an extraordinary decision: since the city of Calais has no money, to authorize a nationwide lottery. All the money goes to the long-suffering composition.
Forty-five thousand tickets were issued at a price of one franc. However, tickets sold poorly. The Ministry of Arts had no choice but to add five thousand three hundred and fifty francs. "Citizens of Calais" receive the right of citizenship.
More than ten years after the conclusion of the treaty on the third of June 1895, Rodin sits on the podium intended for guests. The sculptor's request to install the group in front of the old town hall was rejected. The monument was erected on Richelieu Square, near the new park. In addition, "Citizens of Calais" stands on a pedestal, which kills one of the main ideas of the sculptor: not to let the heroes going to their death be frozen in bronze.
The solemn moment arrives. The cloth covering the statue falls. To his joy, Rodin sees how the faces of the spectators change, and the square is full of people. The sculptor sees how the eyes warm up. People look at his heroes with respect and pride, no, at their heroes, at their fellow citizens. The Rodin monument immediately became famous. Much has been written about the Citizens of Calais. People came from all over France to look at the creation of the great sculptor.
"Citizens of Calais" stood on Richelieu Square until the autumn of 1914. During the First World War, a German shell fragment hit Eustache de Saint-Pierre in the leg. They decided to remove the statue from the square. In March 1915, it was loaded onto cars and taken to the town hall, where the statue was kept until the end of hostilities.
Only in 1919, two years after Rodin’s death, did the “Citizens of Calais” again take to the square.
And in May 1924, the master’s dream came true. The monument is finally being placed on a pedestal in the central square of the city in front of the town hall.
Everyone knows the name of the great French sculptor Auguste Rodin. When you mention him, “The Thinker”, “Eve”, “Eternal Spring”, “Kiss” immediately appear before your eyes. The sculptural group “Citizens of Calais” occupies a special place in his work.
There is no greater love than if
whoever lays down his life for his friends.
In. 15.13
How does a person feel who voluntarily goes to death for the sake of the lives of other people? What happens in the soul of a hero when he accomplishes a feat? Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) answered these questions by creating the sculptural group “Citizens of Calais,” and thereby revolutionized monumental sculpture.
The tradition that had become established by the second half of the 19th century demanded, first of all, greatness from works of this genre. The hero (usually one) had to rise above the audience and evoke a feeling of pride and admiration. The monument did not intend to depict the emotional experiences of the person depicted. It is in this traditional spirit that the municipality of the French city of Calais decided to perpetuate the memory of Eustache de Saint-Pierre, one of the heroes of the Hundred Years' War. The year was 1845. The then famous sculptor David of Anzhersky took on the task of completing the order, but the work was not completed. Anzhersky died, neither his students nor other sculptors were able to complete the idea, especially since the city also had financial problems. The project froze for almost forty years.
By the time the municipality of Calais came up with the idea of creating a monument, Auguste Rodin was only five years old. He was the son of a simple employee, studied first at a church school, then at a secondary school. The boy discovered artistic passions early, and his parents encouraged his interest in art. Auguste often went to the Louvre. Getting acquainted with masterpieces, he learned from the masters of the past. The boy wanted to paint, but poverty became an obstacle. Paints and canvases were expensive, but paper and pencil were available to Rodin’s meager finances. Therefore, he concentrated on drawing, making endless copies of masterpieces, filling his hand. After graduating from high school, Rodin tried three times to enter the Higher Art School of Paris, and three times he was not accepted! However, Auguste had amazing tenacity and patience. He felt strong, so he was confident in his destiny.
When Rodin was 22 years old, a misfortune happened. His beloved younger sister, a nun with whom Rodin was very close, died. Auguste was overwhelmed by grief. He retired to a monastery. Here he created his first serious work: a bust of the founder of the monastery, Father Emar. Creativity brought the young man back to life, he returned to the world and began his journey as a sculptor.
Over time, Rodin learned from rumors about the unfinished monument in Calais. He was already a famous artist, recognized not only in France. “The Thinker” and “Eve” had already been created, work was underway on the grandiose “Gates of Hell”... The core of his work was clearly defined - the philosophical search for the meaning of human life, the expression of its essence as an eternal struggle between good and evil, chaos and order, destruction and creation . Rodin was interested in strong feelings, situations of extreme choice. In essence, he expressed the idea of human responsibility for everything that happens in the world - something that later found its embodiment in the philosophy of existentialism. Inspired by the idea of a monument in Calais, Rodin became familiar with Jean Froissart's Chronicles. The story he learned amazed him.
At the beginning of the Hundred Years' War, the British were very successful in advancing deep into France. But the attempt to take the key fortress of Calais failed - the city offered stubborn resistance. The British began a siege that lasted almost a year. Finally it became clear that the French could not hold out: all food supplies in the city had run out - the residents even ate rats. During the negotiations for the surrender of the fortress, the British put forward an ultimatum: the city will not be destroyed and the inhabitants will be spared if the six most eminent citizens of Calais, barefoot, with bare heads, with nooses around their necks, hand over the keys to the city to them. These six will be executed, but there will be no more victims.
The bell on Town Hall Square summoned residents to a general meeting. The burgomaster announced the British demand, and then the most noble resident of the city, Eustache de Saint-Pierre, was the first to take a step forward. He was followed by Jean d'Her, brothers Jean and Pierre de Wissant, Andried Andre and Jean di Fienne - rich and respected townspeople. They did everything as the enemy demanded - they put nooses around their necks and walked out of the city gates, carrying the keys.
The idea that the monument should be dedicated not only to Eustache de Saint-Pierre, but to all six heroes, became clear to Rodin immediately. This was a plot in which it was possible to show what so worried the artist - man in the highest manifestation of his essence. Six heroes, six personalities, each with their own character, and what unites them all is duty, self-sacrifice, the consciousness of imminent death. Showing the moment of farewell - to people, to the city, to life - with all the nuances of feelings, in the movement of figures, as a single ensemble, was a very interesting task. However, the municipality insisted on a single figure. The main reason for the stubbornness of the city authorities was financial limitations. Then Rodin, inspired by the idea of a group composition, agreed to the fee that was due for a single figure.
Of course, there was no question of simply continuing the project of David of Angers. Rodin proposed his project, and it was fundamentally different from everything that had happened before in monumental sculpture. All four years during which Auguste Rodin worked on the work, he fought with the customer for the right to realize his plan. At first, he had great difficulty convincing the municipality of the need for a group composition. The customer then complained about the appearance of the figures, finding it “pathetic and offensive.” Members of the municipality would like to see them elegantly dressed, in a proud pose - as befits a monument. Rodin depicted almost all the characters half-naked, with their heads bowed, and the size of the figures did not exceed two meters.
In the art of sculpture, the naked body is one of the most important exponents of the inner world of the individual. Muscle tension, the dynamics of gestures - all this is a mirror in which the soul is reflected. Like the great Michelangelo, Rodin was more attracted to the texture of the male body. In it one can express the idea of strength more clearly than in a woman’s version, to show a person who takes upon himself the burden of responsibility for life and death, for everything that happens in the world. “The Bronze Age”, “The Thinker” are works that are iconic in this sense. They show a person in his development - from the first steps of adulthood, when his strength is still awakening, to the reflections of a mature personality, fully aware of the contradictions of existence.
"The Citizens of Calais" can be seen in a certain sense as a development of the concept of "The Thinker". In “The Thinker” we see, first of all, the concentration of a person’s intellectual and physical power, where mental tension is shown in harmony with the physical. In this sense, nudity is the only acceptable solution. And in “Citizens” we can talk about the concentration of moral forces that are revealed at the most dramatic moment of life - at the moment of realizing the inevitability of death. Rodin combined clothed and nude figures in this sculpture with amazing tact. The flowing robes emphasize the monumentality of the monument, while the naked fragments express the idea of sacrifice and emphasize the tragedy of the plot. The heroes walk, barefoot, along the uneven ground towards death, each of them thinks about his own, but the whole group is united by a single impulse and a common pathos of salvation and farewell. Each person's facial expressions and gestures carry a wealth of meaning, complementing each other and creating a general mood.
Rodin wanted the monument to be placed on a very low pedestal and not enclosed, so that viewers could interact with the work at close range. This was the master’s artistic intention: he wanted to bring the figures as close as possible to the viewer, to create a feeling of closeness and reality of what is happening. Approaching the monument, anyone could carefully examine both the entire composition as a whole and individual fragments. You can get a complete picture of the work only by walking around it. A very low pedestal and no more than two-meter figures would allow viewers to peer into the faces of those depicted, literally look into their eyes.
However, the city authorities did not agree with this artist’s demand in any way...
When Rodin completed work on the work, another problem arose - the city did not have the money to cast the monument in bronze. It was time to give up, but Rodin knew how to wait. We had to wait more than five years. Languishing in the stable (there was no room in the workshop), the “Citizens of Calais” excited public opinion. Everyone who saw the work was shocked... Finally, a nationwide lottery was announced in favor of the monument; In addition, the Ministry of Art allocated a subsidy, and funds for the casting were collected.
The opening of the monument took place on June 3, 1895 with a large crowd of people and became one of the most important cultural events in France in those years. Rodin had to give in to the municipal authorities, who insisted on a high pedestal and fence. In addition, he yielded to them on the issue of the location of the monument - instead of Town Hall Square, it was placed on Richelieu Square. By and large, this became not so important against the backdrop of the main thing: the composition was finally presented to everyone.
The effect exceeded all expectations. Even on a high pedestal, behind the fence, the “Citizens of Calais” amazed with their humanity and were perceived as their own, family and friends, sacrificing themselves out of love. It was a monument glorifying the strength of the human spirit, tragic and touching at the same time. It penetrated into the very heart, causing catharsis in souls.
When the First World War began, the composition was hidden, and then, following the wishes of the sculptor, it was placed on a low pedestal in the square in front of the old town hall, where it is still located.
"The Citizens of Calais" became a milestone in the life and work of Auguste Rodin. This work is the result of the master’s deep reflections on the nature of heroism and self-sacrifice. While working on the composition, the sculptor became so close to his heroes that he could no longer imagine life without them. Therefore, he cast a copy of the monument at his own expense and installed it in the courtyard of his Parisian workshop. Now here is the Rodin Museum. Another original copy was cast at the request and at the expense of the English government and installed in the center of London. The British asked the master about this with good reason. To understand why, it is worth returning once again to the events of 1347.
The citizens of Calais, barefoot, with bare heads, with nooses around their necks, stood before the English king Edward III. He had already given the order to execute them. And then his pregnant wife, Queen Philippa, shocked by the courage of the six heroes, threw herself on her knees in front of the king. She begged her husband to spare the condemned, in the name of their unborn child. Edward III could not refuse his beloved wife. The citizens of Calais were spared their lives and released.
Thus, now Rodin’s masterpiece can be admired in three cities - Calais, Paris and London, and each copy is the author’s.
In addition, individual fragments of the composition were cast and can be seen in museums in different countries. They are also in the Museum of Fine Arts named after A.S. Pushkin in Moscow.
How the citizens of Calais sacrificed themselves to save the city
The siege of fortresses and cities in the Middle Ages was a very difficult task. Moreover, both for those who were under siege and for those who defended themselves. It was not fun for everyone, the only question was who would outlast whom.
On September 4, 1346, after the defeat of the French army at Crecy, the British under the command of King Edward III began a siege of the port and city of Calais. Since the city was a convenient port, Edward simply desperately needed it to continue the war in France. Calais was surrounded by a double moat and strong walls built about 100 years ago. In addition to the main walls, in the north-west of the city there was a citadel with its own moat and additional fortifications. The city was a tempting target, but besieging it was clearly no easy task. But the British did not even imagine how difficult it was.
After Calais was besieged and the English appreciated the city walls, Edward requested additional help from England and Flanders. The French king Philip VI, after his army suffered huge losses at Crecy, was no longer eager to meet the British army in a proper battle, and he did not have the strength. As a result, the supply lines of the British army remained uncut. But Edward could not prevent the help that was being brought to Calais from the sea.
In November, guns were brought to the city, catapults were built, and assault ladders were assembled. But all the efforts were in vain; it was not possible to break through the city walls. Edward despaired of taking the city by storm and in February 1347 switched to a proper siege, at the same time attracting a fleet, blocking the city both from land and sea. Only one French convoy was able to get into the city.
But the French king also continued to stay nearby, so the British had no time to relax. In the spring, both armies received additional reinforcements, but the French were unable to dislodge the English army, which was in a favorable position between the swamps.
By June, the supply of food and fresh water to Calais was almost completely interrupted. In order to maintain the ability to defend the city, 500 children and old people were expelled from it so that the remaining adult men and women could survive and continue the defense.
There are different opinions about those expelled. The French version says that the British did not let the exiles through and they died at the fortress walls of hunger. But there is other information - the Flemish chronicler Jean Le Bel wrote that Edward III showed nobility and was merciful to the expelled - he not only let them through, but also gave each a small sum of money.
On August 1, having exhausted all forces to defend itself and having held out for more than a year, the city lit signal lights, signaling its readiness to surrender. Edward agreed, on the condition that the keys to the city would be brought by 6 of the most noble citizens, who would be executed for insubordination.
Whether he actually intended to execute the townspeople or not is a moot point. In the Middle Ages, the surrender of fortresses often took place in the form of theatrical performances. Moreover, Edward seriously considered himself a French king and had quite strong rights to this. And therefore he could well have executed those who resisted him, but did not execute them. It is believed that due to the fact that his wife very strongly, almost falling to her knees, asked not to kill the townspeople. Of course, such things are thought out in advance, so most likely it was a well-orchestrated performance.
Moreover, most of the townspeople were subsequently expelled from Calais, since those who could open the gates to the French king were not needed in the fortress. And Calais would become an important English fortress for a long time, until 1558, until it was recaptured. Many British raids in the Hundred Years' War would be launched from here, and trade with Flanders would also be ensured. Calais will be so important to England that the post of commandant of this city will be entrusted only to the most important and truly famous dignitaries.
Auguste Rodin (François-Auguste-René Rodin) was born on November 12, 1840. Young Rodin loved to go to the Louvre and paint ancient sculptures. And years later, his own work will be considered one of the most interesting and significant phenomena in the history of world art.
Having destroyed frozen academic traditions, Auguste Rodin is considered one of the founders of modern sculpture. The most famous works of the talented Frenchman are the sculptures “The Thinker”, “Citizens of Calais” and “The Kiss”. In honor of the 175th anniversary of the sculptor’s birth, we will tell you in more detail about each of them.
"The Thinker" (Le Penseur), 1880-1882.
One of Auguste Rodin's most famous sculptural works is now on display at the Rodin Museum in Paris.
In the history of sculpture, a person has often been depicted in a thought process. But Rodin’s “The Thinker” is not similar to any of the previously created plastic forms. According to the author’s original plan, the sculpture was called “The Poet” and was part of the composition “The Gates of Hell” based on the “Divine Comedy”.
In 1880, the government commissioned Rodin to design the central entrance to the Museum of Decorative Arts under construction in Paris. The master worked on this work almost until the end of his life, calling it “The Gates of Hell,” which became Rodin’s greatest creation. In the process of working on the seven-meter-high “Gates of Hell,” he created many compositions (more than 180 different figures), some of which later became independent works.
Over time, Rodin's plan became more complicated, in particular, the image of Dante was replaced by the universal image of the creator. The model for it was (as for many other works of this sculptor) Jean Baud, a French, muscular boxer who performed mainly in Paris. Rodin endowed his hero with physical strength, but performed him in a pointedly allegorical way, having no real prototypes.
The Thinker was first publicly exhibited in 1888 in Copenhagen.
Four years later, the sculpture was cast in bronze and enlarged to 181 cm. Rodin exhibited it at the Paris Salon in 1904. And in 1922, this bronze was transferred to the Rodin Museum at the Hotel Biron.
In addition, there are more than 20 bronze and plaster copies of the statue in different cities scattered around the world.
Citizens of Calais, 1884-1888
This bronze sculpture is dedicated to one of the episodes of the Hundred Years' War.
After the victory at Crecy in 1346, the English king Edward III besieged the key French fortress of Calais. The siege lasted almost a year. French attempts to break the blockade failed. Finally, when famine forced the townspeople to begin negotiations for surrender, the English king demanded that the six most noble citizens be handed over to him, intending to put them to death as a warning to others.
The first to volunteer to give his life to save the city was one of the main rich men, Eustache de Saint-Pierre. Others followed his example. At the request of the king, the volunteers had to bring the keys to Calais to meet him naked, with ropes tied around their necks. This requirement was fulfilled. Queen Philippa of England was filled with pity for these emaciated people and, in the name of her unborn child, begged forgiveness for them from her husband.
The idea of creating a monument in honor of outstanding Frenchmen was hatched for a long time, until the mayor of Calais Devavrin finally organized a fundraiser for the monument by subscription and ordered the sculpture to Rodin.
Rodin insisted on eliminating the pedestal so that the figures would be at the same level as the audience who first saw it in 1889. But nevertheless, at the insistence of the city authorities, it was installed on a traditional pedestal and with a fence. The sculptor's idea was realized only after his death in 1924.
"The Kiss", 1889
E. A. Bourdelle said “There was not and will not be a master capable of putting a rush of flesh into clay, bronze and marble more soulfully and intensely than Rodin did.” He said this about a marble sculpture created and presented by Rodin in 1889 at the World Exhibition in Paris.
Although at first this sculpture was also part of the relief group decorating the large bronze sculptural gates of the Gates of Hell, it was soon removed from there. But then it was called not “The Kiss” at all, but “Francesca da Rimini”, in honor of the noble Italian lady of the 13th century depicted on it, whose name was immortalized by Dante’s Divine Comedy.
The woman fell in love with her husband Giovanni Malatesta's younger brother, Paolo. Soon they were killed, in fact, by the husband. By the way, the lovers do not actually touch each other's lips, as if hinting that they were killed without committing a sin.
The sculpture received its modern name “The Kiss” (Le Baiser) from critics who first saw it in 1887.
