Auguste Rodin: The Burghers of Calais

I was unaware of the incident that took place in Calais. Apparently, this town in France was undertaken by an English ruler, Edward III where he was planning of demolishing the city. Instead he offered that if six of the top leaders would sacrifice themselves he would then spare the town. Six members come forth for the worst but are then too spared because the Queen was moved by the sacrifice and convinced the king to pardon them.

There were other attempts to capture this moment, but it was erected finally by Auguste Rodin in 1889. Rodin is credited with bringing sculptures back to bronze which was the technique used by earlier times such as the Romans and Greeks. In his monument to the The Burghers of Calais he captures the essence of the moment they make their decision to sacrifice themselves. He uses very identifiable facial expression such as sadness, disgust, fear, and a little surprise. In a psychological study these are proven to be worldwide recognizable facial expression. Even isolated tribes are able to recognize how a person of different culture is feeling given one of these emotions. This brings the sculpture to life for a wider audience. I'm sure that Rodin spent a quality amount of time solely on the faces of the Burghers in this piece. 

http://www.metmuseum.org/learn/for-educators/publications-for-educators/auguste-rodin-the-burghers-of-calais

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Burghers_of_Calais