Jean d'Aire, A Burgher of Calais – Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Sherbrooke Street West, Montréal, Québec

Founded in 1860, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (French: Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal) is Montreal's largest museum and is amongst the most prominent in Canada. In 1912, the museum moved into a Beaux-Arts building on Sherbrooke Street The building was designed by William Sutherland Maxwell and his brother Edward Maxwell. It is now named the Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion and is devoted to archaeology, world cultures and temporary exhibitions.

Les Bourgeois de Calais (The Burghers of Calais) is one of the most famous sculptures by Auguste Rodin. Completed in 1889. it serves as a monument to an occurrence in 1347 during the Hundred Years’ War, when Calais, an important French port on the English Channel, was under siege by the English for over a year.

The story goes that England’s Edward III, after a victory in the Battle of Crécy, laid siege to Calais, while Philip VI of France ordered the city to hold out at all costs. Philip failed to lift the siege, and starvation eventually forced the city to parley for surrender. Edward offered to spare the people of the city if any six of its top leaders would surrender themselves to him, presumably to be executed. Edward demanded that they walk out wearing nooses around their necks and carrying the keys to the city and castle. One of the wealthiest of the town leaders, Eustache de Saint Pierre, volunteered first, and five other burghers joined with him. Saint Pierre led this envoy of volunteers to the city gates. It was this moment, and this poignant mix of defeat, heroic self-sacrifice, and willingness to face imminent death that Rodin captured in his sculpture, scaled somewhat larger than life. Although the burghers expected to be executed, their lives were spared by the intervention of England’s Queen, Philippa of Hainault, who persuaded her husband to exercise mercy by claiming that their deaths would be a bad omen for her unborn child.

The statue on the front portico of the Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion depicts Jean d’Aire, one of the six men. He carries the keys of the city in his strong hands. He is the most determined of them all, although his eyes betray his sadness. The monk’s robe he is wearing is a reflection of his strength of character. Besides being the most monumental figure in the group, Jean d’Aire is also the most popular and many replicas were made of him. This copy of Rodin’s 1887 sculpture was cast in 1966 . It was purchased by Max Stern for the Dominion Gallery from an exhibition in honour of the 50th anniversary of Rodin’s death. It was bequeathed to the museum after Stern died in 1987.