Auguste Rodin’s The Burghers of Calais represents six citizens of Calais. The group shows the volunteers who offered themselves as hostages during the English siege of Calais in 1347, an episode from the Hundred Years’ War.
Rodin’s unusual composition presents the men at ground level rather than on a high pedestal. Each figure expresses a different emotional response—fear, resignation, courage, or grief—so the monument emphasizes individual sacrifice rather than a single heroic leader.
The six figures are Eustache de Saint-Pierre, Jean d’Aire, Jacques de Wissant, Pierre de Wissant, Jean de Fiennes, and Andrieu d’Andres. They were intended to walk toward the city gates, carrying the keys to Calais.
The work was commissioned by Calais in 1884 and unveiled there in 1895. A common mistake is to describe it as a monument to one burgher; its defining feature is the united group of six men.