Burghers of Calais by Rodin. If I remember correctly, the story goes like so:

A Germanic tribe invades some town and the chief says that in order to spare the townspeople, the town elders/intellectuals must give themselves up for execution. Anyway, the chief was so impressed that he let them live. It’s interesting that Rodin chose to depict the moment where the burghers believe that death is imminent, and not the moment of joy afterwards.