In 1884 Rodin received a commission from Calais for a monument to the legendary burghers who, in 1347, saved their city from the English.

Rodin wanted to represent the range of the men’s different states of mind – from resignation to desperation – and wanted, as he said himself, “to have them stand forth as individuals; in the indecision which finds expression during the final inner battle between their devotion to their city and their fear of death, the individual is alone with his conscience.”