Occasionally a student will ask me about my favorite work of art.
Without a doubt it is Rodin's The Monument to the Burghers of Calais, seen above. It is presented on a low pedestal so that the viewer may actually "walk alongside" the figures and feel the intensity of the work.
I find this sculpture stunning not only for its realism but for the true story behind it.
In 1347, the city of Calais was laid under siege by Edward III, the King of England. The condition of mercy, relayed to the townsfolk after the long period of suffering by the city was this: send out six of your burghers who will be sacrificed, and the rest of the city would be spared.
Six burghers (Eustache de Saint-Pierre, Jean d'Aire, Jacques and Pierre de Wissant, Jean de Fiennes, Andrieu d'Andres) stepped forward, sacrificing their lives in order to hand over the keys of the city to the King and spare the lives of its residents.
The faces of the six burghers moves me deeply every time I view this monument of self-sacrifice.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art relates the background of this highly emotional story:
"The Burghers of Calais, commemorating an episode during the Hundred Years' War between England and France ... [where} six of the principal citizens of Calais were ordered to come out of their besieged city with head and feet bare, ropes around their necks, and the keys of the town and the caste in their hands. They were brought before the English king Edward III (1312–1377), who ordered their beheading. Rodin has portrayed them at the moment of departure from their city led by Eustache de Saint-Pierre, the bearded man in the middle of the group. At his side, Jean d'Aire carres a giant-sized key. Their oversized feet are bare, many have ropes around their necks..."
Some versions of history state that the queen interceded and the men's lives were spared, but there is speculation that this version of the ending may have been invented by the French chronicler Jean Froissart ... and that the men were beheaded.
As I stood mere inches from the faces of these men, I saw the anguish portrayed in each visage. There is a mixture of emotion - part benevolence for those they have made safe, and part misery for the death that awaits them.
I think of our Jesus and the same decision He made in stepping forward to be the one who would take the condemnation I deserved.
And no artist has come near to successfully capturing even an idea of what Christ's face must have looked like on that long walk to the crucifixion site.
