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Lot Essay
Pierre de Wiessant was created in preparation for the Burghers of Calais, Rodin's first public sculpture commission. In the monument and full-figure studies, Wissant is depicted with his face turned away and right hand open in a gesture of humility. In the present cast, the artist has simplified the elements bringing greater focus to the facial expression which suggests self-sacrifice and anguish.
Rodin was firm in his belief that the models be natives of Calais and he looked to his friend "Coquelin cadet, celebrated actor of the Comédia Francaise" to pose as a man of the people (R. Butler, Rodin: The Shape of Genius, Dexter, Michigan, 1993, p. 205). Even before the completion of the monument, Rodin exhibited the full-scale figure and head of Pierre de Wiessant at the Galerie Georges Petit in 1884.
Rodin was firm in his belief that the models be natives of Calais and he looked to his friend "Coquelin cadet, celebrated actor of the Comédia Francaise" to pose as a man of the people (R. Butler, Rodin: The Shape of Genius, Dexter, Michigan, 1993, p. 205). Even before the completion of the monument, Rodin exhibited the full-scale figure and head of Pierre de Wiessant at the Galerie Georges Petit in 1884.