
Read the visual description
Cast in bronze, this free-standing sculpture shows a man with a gaunt face wearing a robe that falls in long, vertical folds as he holds an oversized skeleton key down in front of his thighs. In this photograph, the man’s body faces us but he turns his head to our left to look in that direction, his chin sightly raised. He has close-cropped hair, sunken eyes, hollow cheeks, a wide, square chin, and his thin lips are downturned. The long-sleeved robe drops heavily to his feet, and the toes of one bare foot peek out. A hint of a raised, round halter like a yoke around his neck shows from under his robe near his left shoulder, on our right. Most of the surface has a dark green patina except for a few lighter places, as on his sleeve to our left and in the thick drapes of his robe. A few areas are rubbed gold, including the tip of his nose and the knuckles of his hands.
National Gallery of Art · Sculpture
A Burgher of Calais (Jean d'Aire)
Auguste Rodin
- Date
- model 1884-1889, reduction cast probably 1895
- Medium
- bronze
- Dimensions
- overall: 47 x 16 x 14 cm (18 1/2 x 6 5/16 x 5 1/2 in.)
- Classification
- Sculpture · Small Bronze
- Accession number
- 1942.5.13
- Credit line
- Gift of Mrs. John W. Simpson
- Time span
- 1876 to 1900
- Department
- CSD
Subjects and terms
- French
- European Sculpture of the Nineteenth Century
- male
- portrait
- Aire, Jean d'
- Romantic
Provenance
Acquired before 1905 from the artist by Mr. and Mrs. John W. Simpson, New York; gift 1942 to NGA.
Inscription
on back of base: A. Rodin
NGA object ID 1006. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.