Jean d'Aire from the Burghers of Calais

Jean d’Aire is one of six figures from the monumental and heroic group commemorating the final, symbolic act of surrender of the leading citizens of Calais after that city finally succumbed to nearly a year of siege during the Hundred Years’ War. Rodin developed the facial expressions and bodily gestures through years of experimentation with studies in plaster and terracotta after nude models. The details of their drapery and interaction were resolved later. The Dallas sculpture is an early bronze casting of the nude study, but even standing alone without the context of costume and other figures this work is movingly eloquent, reinventing our notion of the heroic image.