Modeled 1886; cast 1926
Head of Pierre de Wissant
Auguste RodinFrench, 1840 - 1917
Pierre de Wissant and his brother Jacques were two of the six citizens who volunteered as hostages to save their city in 1347. Rodin depicted the event in his monument The Burghers of Calais.
Because it had taken place some five hundred years earlier, Rodin based the figures for his sculpture on living surrogates. The model for Pierre de Wissant is thought to have been Coquelin Cadet (French, 1848–1909), a popular comedian and actor.
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