This is one of the most famous sculptures by the French sculptor Auguste Rodin in his dramatic Group 'The Burghers of Calais' from 1889. In this larger-than-life portrait, Pierre de Wissant's introspective agony is amplified to an almost unbearable intensity. The tilt of the head, given greater emphasis through the unusual base of the sculpture, makes this agony even more poignant. The source of Wissant's anguish was his decision to join five other civic leaders who agreed to sacrifice their own lives in 1367 to free their beseiged city of Calais from English occupation.

Rodin produced many variants of the group piece (available to download here), check out the rest of his collection on MyMiniFactory!

This object is part of "Scan The World". Scan the World is a non-profit initiative introduced by MyMiniFactory, through which we are creating a digital archive of fully 3D printable sculptures, artworks and landmarks from across the globe for the public to access for free. Scan the World is an open source, community effort, if you have interesting items around you and would like to contribute, email stw@myminifactory.com to find out how you can help.

Scanned : Photogrammetry (Processed using Agisoft PhotoScan)