La défense, ou L’appel aux armes

La défense, ou L’appel aux armes (“The Defense, or The Call to Arms”)

In 1879 Rodin took part in a contest to produce a monument commemorating the defense of Paris in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. Instead of a cool and heroic figure, Rodin decided to show a wounded, dying soldier leaning on a protective angel.

The design was rejected, but then successfully revived after WWI. In 1920 it opened as a memorial in the city of Verdun.