All visitors to the
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts this season will be treated to the sight of Auguste Rodin's Eustache de Saint Pierre, a bronze sculpture now on display at the top of the Grand Staircase. The sculpture was donated to the Art Gallery of Ontario by Joey and Toby Tanenbaum and is on loan to the COC for two years.

The sculpture depicts a heroic figure from the Hundred Years War between England and France. The French town of Calais, which had been under siege by the English for over a year, had been reduced to a state of famine and desperation. Edward III, the English King, agreed to spare the city from starvation only if six of its wealthy and powerful men offered up their lives for execution and surrendered the keys to the city. Eustache de Saint Pierre, the man depicted in the sculpture, was the first to volunteer and the five others soon followed suit. In the end, they were not forced to lay down their lives—Philippa of Hainault, the English Queen, was expecting a child and, fearing that their deaths would be a bad omen for her child, pardoned the men. In Rodin's famous collection, the Burghers of Calais (to which Eustache de Saint Pierre belongs) the six emaciated men are depicted in sackcloth with nooses around their necks, their posture showing fear and resignation as they prepare for their act of self-sacrifice.

Ingrid Mida of Fashion is My Muse was also present at the unveiling and has published a selection of her own photos on her blog.