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Call to Arms

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Call to Arms

Call to Arms by Auguste Rodin (1840-1917).

This bronze sculpture was designed by Rodin in 1879 as his entry to a competition to create a monument to the memory of the Frenchmen who had died in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. The sculpture shows a winged figure which represents the spirit of war and the Liberty of France rallying her forces. Slumped against her is a dying soldier. In spite of the dramatic quality of the work (or perhaps because of it) Call to Arms was not chosen, and it was not until 1916 that it was commissioned as a monument to the French soldiers who fell at Verdun.

Several versions of the sculpture exist, including this one on display at the Burrell Collection in Pollok Country Park. The award-winning building, which opened in 1983, was carefully designed to take advantage of the parkland setting. One element of this design is the widespread use of windows to permit natural light to come flooding in and connect visitors to the outside environment.

Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Museums

Keywords:
art, art collections, art galleries, artists, Burrell Collection, Call to Arms, First World War, Franco-Prussian War, museums, parks, Pollok Park, sculpture, soldiers, war memorials, windows



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