Nude Pierre de Wissant (Burgher of Calais study)

This is a headless and handless study of Nude Pierre de Wissant for the Burgher of Calais group of sculptures. Although cast in plaster it Pierre looks so tantalisingly human. His carefully modelled form is convincing as flesh, the light flowing over the surface describes each muscle and every sinew. Rodin took great effort to find a suitable model to represent Pierre, who moved around the studio to enable him to record his idiosyncrasies and capture his inner motivations and emotions, but the final figure is an agglomeration. That life force is palpable in the presence of Pierre de Wissant as we circle his anguished body, empathizing with his momentous decision and wondering if we too might be capable of such courage and self-sacrifice.