Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00010765Heroic Head of Pierre de Wissant, One of the Burghers of Calais
About the Artwork
This sculpture depicts one of the figures in Rodin’s large public monument The Burghers of Calais (1884–89), featuring six French men who volunteered to be taken prisoner by the English in exchange for lifting the siege of Calais during the Hundred Years War (1337–1453). Pierre de Wissant’s anguished expression suggests extreme mental suffering as he contemplates his expected execution. Rodin exhibited a life-size version of the figure as an independent work before completing the monument. He later made multiple versions in various sizes and media. This plaster features a highly expressive, hand-worked surface inscribed in places with graphite and covered with delicate, tinted washes.
Provenance
Loïe Fuller, Paris, France.
Exhibition history
Loïe Fuller. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 10-June 3, 1984). Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008). Rodin-100 Years. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 1, 2017-May 13, 2018). Rodin—100 Years. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 1, 2017-May 13, 2018).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Auguste Rodin (French, 1840–1917)
- Date
- 1886
- Medium
- plaster
- Dimensions
- Overall: 85.1 x 61 x 50.8 cm (33 1/2 x 24 x 20 in.)
- Type
- Sculpture
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Department
- Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Gift of Loïe Fuller
- Accession no.
- 1917.722
More by Auguste Rodin in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00010765
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