Call to arms (spirit of war)

In 1879 the Conseil Municipal of Paris wanted to commemorate the courage of the city's residents in the defense of Paris in 1870 (during the attack by the Prussian army). They interpreted the heroism of Parisians as laying the groundwork for the birth of the Third Republic. The monument would be erected at the rond-point de Courbevoie in the western suburbs, where the defense of Paris was mounted. The monument would also replace a statue of Napoléon taken down at Courbevoie and thrown into the Seine in 1870. Stipulated by the commission was that the monument should contain two figures. Seventy-eight artists including Rodin submitted maquettes. Although there were three finalists, the judging was thrown into question and the competition was opened a second time. Rodin's work was not selected. Like most of the other entries, Rodin's submission consisted a female allegory juxtaposed with a male combatant. He envisioned her as a fighting Genius of Liberty and the whole monument as a universal idea of death and the hero. But the work had none of the noble beauty of the successful entries -- it jarred with the contemporary sense of decorum.