Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Bourgeois de Calais


Since you apparently all like the musée Rodin let me show you one of my favorite sculptures there: un bourgeois de Calais (a burgher of Calais). Calais is a city in the north of France which was besieged by British King Edward III in 1347. To free the city he was offered the life of 6 inhabitants (burghers) that he finally did not kill (read the captivating story here). In 1884, the city ordered Rodin a sculpture depicting this historical episode; it became the famous Bourgeois de Calais. The original is in Calais of course, but there are 12 copies throughout the world: Rodin museum, Copenhagen, London... and also studies in Stanford University that I had the occasion to photograph last June while I was in Silicon Valley.

19 comments:

  1. If not THE most favorite museum of mine in Paris, it comes close. I've spent many happy hours there, wandering the grounds and lunching outdoors. Took our 7-year-old grandson with us on our first international trip with him, and, god love 'em, he like the museum very much. Have a print of The Thinker in my downstairs bathroom as a memory of my father who irreverently referred to the sculpture as The Man on the Pot. Hope this hasn't ruined it for you!! It just made me love Rodin more!! Love the photo of "un bourgeois de Calais."

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  2. Excellent Eric. I didn't know all of that history and the other photo makes much more sense to me now.

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  3. Cool! I didn't know we had one just a few miles away from here. That's an interesting close up, but I wouldn't want him in my living room, though. I think he looks a little creepy. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

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  4. Kate, I didn't want to bring it up but since you did, rest assured that your father was not alone in saying that The Thinker was going potty. I have heard that MANY times, too. :)

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  5. Eric, now I know where I got my nose from! Some of my father's ancestors were French. And as for Edward the Justinian, I wrote a paper on him when I was studying law - he was England's greatest legislator and responsible for transferring power from the throne to parliament.

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DIVE
    HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DIVE
    HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR DIVE
    HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DIVE

    Guess whose birthday it is?

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  6. Who's birthday is it? Is Dive a nickname? I know, it is Diva. Rodin's sculptures usually seem to have thick features. Almost neanderthal...I wonder if the models looked like that or if that was just Rodin's style. We have a professor here at the University of Kentucky who is a direct descendant of Rodin. It was her maiden name. She was raised in Kansas but teaches French. Small world, isn't it.

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  7. Wonderful photo, Eric!!! It can't be easy photographing a sculpture, and deciding which angle to share with us. In an attempt to capture the details from Rodin’s Burghers of Calais, John Lienhard writes in "The Engines of Our Ingenuity", “Once I tried to photograph that great bronze. I circled it in vain. Each view was a whole new idea. I was trying to stuff smoke into a paper bag. Rodin told me far more about fear, nobility, courage, and sorrow than my camera and I could ever digest.”

    Loraine

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  8. On my first tripto Paris, I visited the Rodin museum. I stood in front, beside, behind, closer, backed away, from this sculpture for about 30 minutes. I was fascinated. I've seen studies of it all over, especially in the Chicago Art Institute and also in the Legion of Honor museum in San Francisco. I didn't know about the Pasadena one. The faces and attitudes of the figures are so human, so wrought with emotion, you can feel their fear, anguish, resignation. I love this work.

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  9. Oh, yeah, hi Nahal! Welcome back to the USA.

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  10. This one makes me think to the studies of Franz Xaver Messerschmidt, as strong, tormented an human. Merci Eric

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  11. Not keen on this sculpture, Eric. I find it ugly, unrefined. Just me, though. Good photo!

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  12. Sorry to butt in here, Eric but I must thank Mme. Benaut for her song and send her a big hug and a kiss.

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  13. I was going to mention this sculpture yesterday, Eric, but I couldn't remember the name of it - I love it too!! For those who don't love it from this photo - it is an incredible sight in person. Thanks for bringing back some fond memories, Eric.

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  14. Oooh Dive how lovely to see you here in Paris. Told you it was worth coming!

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  15. All hugs and kisses gratefully received. Thank you.

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  16. Musée Rodin is certainly one of the best. The pieces inside the building are fantastic, but to walk through those gardens and see the sculptures is a real delight. I'm so glad it was a sunny day, just perfect!

    I didn't know the story behind this sculpture, thanks for the info about the bourgeois!

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  17. I had to take a picture of the metro station at Varenne. They have copies of Rodin sculptures there. How great is it?!

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