The Burghers of Calais is a bronze sculpture that represents six persons. It is created by Auguste Rodin, finished in 1888. It is one of his most famous works. There are twelve of cast. They are among other things in Calais, in the Musée Rodinin Paris , in London , in the Victoria Tower Gardensin Copenhagen and in Mariemont. The sculpture has the German writer Georg Kaiser inspired to write the play ' Die Bürger von Calais.
Content[]
- 2 Historical relevance
- 3 the places where an original cast of the Burghers of Calais is
- 4 Drama of Kaiser
- 5 external links
History[Edit][]
Although still struggling with the insurmountable difficulties in the construction of its Porte de l'Enfer, the French sculptor Auguste Rodin from 1886 to 1888 to a new public service remit of the City Council of Calais. It is Les bourgeois de Calais and the assignment is: immortalize the memory of a heroic action.
Rodin takes the opportunity to establish with the world of the middle ages, which fascinates him very. Inspired by the Froissart's Chroniques , group the master the six citizens, barefoot and with a fine cloth, as an incarnation of the human suffering, which he analyzes and Anatomy of each expression as a function of their age and their character. The suggestive power, those of the group goes out, is overwhelming. The image is entirely in bronze.
In contrast to the current presentation, it was originally intended his creation to Rodin's place on a base plate of just 25 cm height so that the citizens , as it were, between the pedestrian on the market would run.
[1][2]One of the twelve versions in the park next to Westminster in London==Historical relevance[Edit]==
The artwork depicts a phase out from the hundred years ' war . Calais was already in 1347 by the eleven-month siege forced to surrender because of the great famine in the city. Six prominent citizens had conceived the plan to donate their life to the English king in Exchange for saving the city. Dressed with nothing else than a shirt and with the noose already around their necks pulled them to Edward III to give him the key to the city. Moved by the self-sacrifice of the men threw Eduards wife Philippa of Hainault itself at the feet of her husband and begged him to spare their lives, whatever happened.
The places where an original cast of the Burghers of Calais is[Edit][]
- Calais, place de l ' Hôtel de ville, 1895.
- Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, 1903.
- Mariemont (Belgium), Musée Royal, 1905.
- London, Parliament building, Cast 1908, exhibition 1915.
- Philadelphia, Rodin Museum, Cast between 1919 and 1922, exhibition 1925.
- Paris, Musée Rodin, Cast 1926, donation to museum in 1955.
- Basel Exhibition, art museum, Cast 1943, 1948.
- Washington, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Cast 1943, exhibition 1966.
- Tokyo, national museum of Western art, Cast 1953, exhibition 1959.
- Pasadena, Norton Simon Museum of Art, 1969.
- New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cast 1985, exhibition 1989.
- Seoul, Rodin Gallery, 1995.
Kaiser's Drama[Edit][]
The German writer Georg Kaiser has the story of ' the Burghers of Calais ' made into a drama titled ' Die Bürger von Calais. Georg Kaiser wrote the play following Rodin's sculpture group in 1912/1913. The final work was completed in 1914 and first performed in the ' Neue Theatre ' of Frankfurt am Main. The piece, which was directed by Arthur Hellmer, was a great success and provided the large break-through of Kaiser. Bürger von Calais today is ' that ' widely read school literature.
The theatre piece is a prime example of the expressionist drama in the German language area. The message, that the rescue of Calais can be made only by a self sacrifice, rather than by pointless resistance by all citizens, corresponds to the expressionist Bürgertum ' criticism ' and mass society at the time of the German Empire under Wilhelm II.