The Burghers of Calais

Auguste Rodin's 'The Burghers of Calais' (1884–1889) memorialises the six town leaders of Calais who offered themselves as hostages to Edward III of England during the Hundred Years' War. Refusing the traditional heroic monument, Rodin placed the life-size figures almost directly on the ground, their faces registering fear and resolve — a revolution in public sculpture. One of the twelve authorised casts stands in the plaza of Tokyo's National Museum of Western Art, a landmark of the Matsukata Collection.

Exhibition Venue

National Museum of Western Art

Tokyo, Japan

Related Stories

도쿄 우에노에서 만나는 서양 미술의 정수: 국립서양미술관 탐방기

Explore the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo, a UNESCO site designed by L