Talk:The Burghers of Calais

Material?

What is it made of?

coords in article of calais france

• victoria place, london example {{coord|51.49751|N|0.12486|W|source:placeopedia|display=title}}Slowking4 (talk) 15:03, 27 May 2011 (UTC)

G.K. Chesteron quote

Search all the parks in all your cities, You'll find no statues of committees

I've often thought that this statue contradicts G.K. Chesterton's well-known aphorism. I wonder if there's any source discussing it. Leoniceno (talk) 05:32, 5 September 2011 (UTC)

He said: "I've searched all the parks in all the cities and found no statues of committees.", 29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936, the one in London is 1911 so it may be true that he never saw it. Did he really say it or was it one of his characters in a play? You'll have to locate the quote first and check its context. Anyway I don't really think it should be mentioned in this article. QuentinUK (talk) 23:38, 1 December 2012 (UTC)

Counting to twelve

Why does the article say, "Under French law no more than twelve casts of this piece were permitted after Rodin’s death," and then add, "This is the 12th and final cast in the edition, cast 1995," when there are in fact thirteen entries in the list of casts? Cottonshirtτ 07:39, 8 November 2013 (UTC)

The phrase after Rodin's death may be the reason. But clearly support is needed for the claim, and clarification as well-- does it mean single casts of the entire ensemble? Kablammo (talk) 14:25, 8 November 2013 (UTC)

Some clarification is on the French Wikipedia, Les Bourgeois de Calais: Les douze éditions originales, which lists twelve total, including Calais, and excludes the work in Jerusalem, which does not appear to be of the entire grouping. While the French article is also uncited, it at least is internally consistent. Kablammo (talk) 16:00, 8 November 2013 (UTC)

I have now conformed the article to the French wiki article, which resulted in removal from the list of the works in Brooklyn[1] and Jerusalem, which appears to be a single figure rather than all six.[2] Kablammo (talk) 16:16, 8 November 2013 (UTC)

So, what is the status of the copy in the National Gallery of Australia? A photo of it is appended and I have seen it there. The National Gallery of Australia says that it is one of a different series, without pedestal. The Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art says (page 27) that reproduction is restricted by French laws of 1956 and 1968, but a search for "Rodin" in French law sites Legifrance and EasyDroit does not find them.--Wikiain (talk) 14:08, 10 November 2013 (UTC)

If you manage to sort this one out, please have a go at The Thinker .... Johnbod (talk) 14:43, 10 November 2013 (UTC)

I shall request M. Poirot to turn his mind to that. But, as to the Burghers, I nave some traction. The Musée Rodin commits itself to observing Article R122-3 of the Code of Intellectual Property. This provides that no more than 12 copies (exemplaires) of a sculpture - numbered or signed or in some other way authorised by the artist - may be considered to be original works. The Musée states that this provision has been specifically applied to the Musée by laws of 1993 and 2005. The National Gallery of Australia identifies two "variants" of the sculpture, both of which exist in 12 authentic copies. The main difference between these variants is that one has a pedestal and the other does not, which was Rodin's own preference. The Gallery's copy is number 9 of the variant without a pedestal, cast in 1973. It is inscribed "A Rodin/No 9" on the upper surface of the base and, on the rear of the base, "c By Musee Rodin/E. Goddard/Fondeur" (Musée Rodin and Goddard Foundry). It appears that the Musée, to which Rodin assigned all of his property rights, considers itself able to sign on his behalf. On this evidence, the Burghers of Calais exists in 24 original copies. --Wikiain (talk) 23:49, 10 November 2013 (UTC)

But are those not castings of the maquettes, rather than of the full-sized sculpture? Kablammo (talk) 00:26, 11 November 2013 (UTC)