Auguste Rodin’s The Burghers of Calais was unveiled in 1895.
The city of Calais commissioned the monument to commemorate six citizens who, according to a medieval account, offered themselves as hostages during the English siege of 1347. Rodin represented the men not as a single triumphant hero but as a group of distinct individuals confronting fear, duty, and sacrifice.
The monument was unveiled in Calais in 1895. Its low placement was especially controversial because public monuments were commonly raised on tall pedestals, visually separating heroic figures from ordinary viewers. Rodin wanted the citizens to appear close to the public and emotionally accessible.
The work is often described as a monument to one leader, but its subject is the collective sacrifice of six burghers. That group structure is central to Rodin’s interpretation.