Conceived circa 1885, this bronze version was cast in 1960. The Comité Rodin states that at least 20 casts of the sculpture were produced by Montaguelli, Alexis Rudier and Georges Rudier between 1910 and 1963.

The present work is a study for the head of Pierre de Wiessant, which was initially devised as part of Rodin’s sculptural group the Burghers of Calais. The monument was commissioned in 1885 by the councillors of Calais to celebrate the heroic gesture of its townsmen during the Hundred Years’ War against England. The King of England, Edward III, besieged and took control of Calais in 1347; he promised to spare its inhabitants if the city’s leaders agreed to sacrifice themselves in their place. Six of the town’s Burghers walked towards the English camp, facing death so that their fellow citizens could live.

This story, which is retold in Jean de Froissart’s fifteenth-century Chronicles, struck Rodin deeply. The artist focused on the project for over ten years, producing first a maquette which won him the approval of the commissioners, and then removing each individual figure in order to work on the definition of their anatomy and facial expression.

The artist’s individualised depiction of the Burghers, the definition of each character’s facial expression and body language enamoured public and critics alike at the sculpture’s unveiling in 1895. This study for Pierre de Wiessant’s head, also known as Type B, dates to 1885-1886; that is, the year of the monument’s commission. The figure’s furrowed brow beautifully underlines his uncertainty as he faces a sorrowful and precocious, albeit heroic, death. Likewise, the downward curve of his parted lips develops further the portrayal of the figure’s psychology.

Three casts of this model are currently part of major international institutions, such as the Art Institute of Chicago, the Brooklyn Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Zimbabwe.