Transcript Art, Music and Symbolism of the French Revolution

Art, Music and Symbolism
of the French Revolution
The Marseillaise
The Liberty/Phrygian Cap
 Images
of "Liberty" in Roman times carried
at the end of a pike a conical hat that
covered the head of a freed slave.
 These caps symbolized freedom from
slavery, and were used to represent
freedom from despotism in the Revolution.
 These caps were similar to what the
common people of the eighteenth century
wore and, in particular, the conquerors of
the Bastille.
LION
ROOSTER
SYMBOLS OF THE
REVOLUTION
FASCES
Lions were used as symbols of force – the power
of the Revolution. They carried caps on pikes in
some images, just as Liberty and the
revolutionaries did.
 Roosters were symbols of vigilance (for example,
a rooster crows at dawn to wake farmers.)


Fasces were bundles of sticks with an axe sticking
out of them. In Rome they represented the power
of certain magistrates who could order the
beating of a criminal. The judges’ assistants,
called licteurs, did the work with sticks. These
fasces became the symbol of union and accord. It
is from them that we also get the term, fascism.
LEVEL
TRIANGLE
SCALE
EYE
PYRAMID
 Triangles:
Universal symbols of perfection
and balance (e.g. the Trinity, the “magic
number” 3). Also a Masonic symbol.
 Scale: Symbol of balance, equality, justice.
 Pyramid: Symbol of eternity (Egyptian
tombs).
 Level: Masonic tool and symbol of equality
(natural rights).
 Eye: Masonic symbol, symbol of God; in
Revolution, used to symbolize vigilance and
watchfulness.
Handshake
Epée
Crosier
Beehive
•Epée (Sword): Symbol of the Second Estate
(nobility); Crosier: Symbol of the First Estate
(clergy) – both are shown united with the
cap, a symbol of the Third Estate.
•Handshake: Symbol of Fraternity, one of the
revolutionary virtues; also a Masonic rite.
•Beehive: Symbol of collective work.
TABLETS
LIBERTY TREE
HYDRA

Liberty Tree: Planted as a symbol of life, it relates to
national freedom and the perpetuation of the
Revolution and Republic. This image dates from 1792
when the Legislative Assembly made it official. The
tree takes on a sacred value and to knock it down
became a criminal act. The Liberty Tree was also a
symbol of the American Revolution.

Tablets: The Declaration of the Rights of Man and
Citizen was depicted on tablets, identifying it with the
tablets bearing the Ten Commandments from the
Bible.

Hydra: Mythological creature with many heads –
when one is cut off, two more grow in its place. It
symbolized monarchy and aristocracy in the
Revolution.
The Three Estates on Their Way
to Versailles
 Left:
The carriage is driven by a member of
the clergy, while a noble sits up top and
abuses a commoner sitting on the back.
 Right: A member of the Third Estate chases
after the carriage driven by the members of
the First and Second Estates while another
is trampled.
 Both images symbolize the inequality of the
Three Estates.
Louis XVI Aiding His People
 This
pre-Revolution image depicts Louis
being generous to his subjects, giving the
poor alms.
 This might be read either as a sympathetic
portrayal of the king, or a subtle
commentary on inequality – note the
difference between the king's clothing and
that of his subjects.
Louis XVI and Lafayette
 Early
in the Revolution, when the goal was
constitutional monarchy, attempts were
made to tie the king to the Revolution.
 Louis is depicted with Lafayette, a French
noble and hero of the American
Revolutionary War, who was very popular in
the early years of the French Revolution.
Louis XVI Wearing the Cap
 The
first image depicts Louis wearing the
liberty cap, tying him to the goals of the
Revolution.
 The second image depicts Louis less
flatteringly, wearing the cap but dressing
him like a bumbling shopkeeper.
 The third image shows Louis being forced
to wear the cap by revolutionaries (which
actually happened).
Louis XVI: Three
Perspectives, One Goal
 The
image on the left depicts Louis XVI as
an irresponsible drunk.
 The image on the upper right depicts him
as an even more brazenly irresponsible and
laughable drunk, with animalized members
of the clergy in tow.
 The image on the lower right depicts him
riding a pig – a decidedly un-kingly role.
The association of pigs and other animals
with the royals increased as the Revolution
wore on and Louis became less popular.
The King and Queen
 In
these images, Louis XVI and Marie
Antoinette are depicted as a demonic swine
and a draconic harpy, respectively.
 Such images are quite obviously antimonarchy.
The Royal Animals
 In
the left image, Louis XVI and Marie
Antoinette are depicted as a two-headed,
animal-like monster of some form.
 In the right image, (of British origin) the
royal family is shown as a series of animals
being led to prison. This image was made
to depict the arrest of the royal family for
treason.
The Fall of the Bastille
 In
the left image, the Bastille is an
imposing fortress which dwarfs the
revolutionaries.
 In the right image, the Bastille is dwarfed
by a gigantic revolutionary with a massive
lion, symbolizing the victory of the Third
Estate.
The Tennis Court
Oath
 The
top image is a famous depiction of the
Tennis Court Oath, painted in a heroic
style.
 The bottom image goes even further, by
including allegorical symbols of angelic
figures, identifying the rise of the Third
Estate with providence.
Revolutionary Meetings:
Three Perspectives
The image on the left depicts the president of a
revolutionary council as a lazy oaf, signifying an
anti-Revolution perspective.
 The top right image shows a dignified
revolutionary meeting, suggesting that these are
professionals at work.
 The bottom left image depicts the meeting of a
political club as a circus, which could be read as
either supporting or opposing the Revolution.
Supporting because it shows the club banding
together diverse members, or opposing because
circuses are hardly serious, dignified affairs.

THE
ARREST OF
THE ROYAL
FAMILY
 Top
left: The royal family is confronted by
town guards.
 Bottom left: The royal family is arrested
only feet away from escape.
 Center: The royal family is indoors when
revolutionaries barge in and arrest them.
 Top right: Marie Antoinette tries to protect
her family from the guards.
 Bottom right: The victorious guards
surround the carriage and force the family
back to Paris.
The Execution
of Louis XVI
 Top
left: The executioner gleefully shows
Louis XVI's head to the crowd. The head
faces a liberty cap on a pike.
 Bottom left: Louis is shown facing the sky,
depicting him in a more innocent, tragic
light, thereby making him appear more
sympathetic.
 A commemorative plate of the event, with
Louis' severed head shown dripping blood.
Louis is referred to only as “Louis Capet,”
the name he was called after being
stripped of his title.
Ramifications of the Execution
 Left:
In this British image, the death of
Louis XVI is shown unleashing the legions
of Hell – a statement about the danger of
the Revolution spreading to other
countries. Louis himself is being shined
upon by God's light.
 Right: The blood of Louis' severed head is
crying out for vengeance in this image of
similar persuasion to the left.
 Both images depict British fears and
condemnation of the Revolution.
FATES OF THE FIRST AND SECOND ESTATES

Top left: A formerly-noble couple is forced to walk without
a carriage, and is splashed by mud from a passing dog.
This symbolizes the humiliation which nobles had to
endure in the Revolution.

Bottom left: Members of the clergy depicted as having
long noses – a symbol of derision usually reserved for
anti-Semitic works. Also a symbol of deceptiveness.

Top right: Fat members of the clergy are squeezed thin
with a vise, representing the greed and corruption of the
Church being cleansed by the Revolution.

Bottom right: A bishop is forced to vomit out the
privileges of the First Estate under the Old Regime.
“Welcome to Hades, a… Not-SoFriendly Community”
Louis XVI Arrives in Hell
Robespierre and His Followers
Arrive in Hell
 In
these images, fallen despotic leaders are
greeted in Hell, sans heads. Louis is
greeted by fellow members of the
aristocracy who were guillotined, while
Robespierre meets the heads of those he
has sentenced.
 These images are meant to show that
these former enemies of the people are
going to be justly punished in Hell for their
crimes.
THE MANY
DEATHS OF
JEAN-PAUL
MARAT

Top left: A cartoon showing a menacing Charlotte
Corday stabbing a shocked Marat. Note the
exaggerated style and the fact that Marat is not in his
bath.

Bottom left: Marat is shown passive and sainted as
Corday stabs him in his bath. His wife cries out.

Center: In this British cartoon, a powerful-looking
Corday kills the more buffoonish Marat (again outside
of his bath).

Top right: Corday is led out of the room following her
assassination of Marat, as his housekeeper weeps.

Bottom right: Marat's death is embellished with
various supernatural beings meant to emphasize his
goodness and Corday's evil. Liberty (with fasces)
comforts Marat as demons tear at Corday.
Secular Saint and Saintly Killer
 Left:
Marat is depicted as a new sort of
saint, with a halo of stars (curious, as
Marat was critical of the Church.)
 Right: Charlotte Corday is depicted as a
pure maiden, showing some sympathy for
the assassin.
Revolutionaries and Counterrevolutionaries
 Left:
In this British image dating from a few
decades following the French Revolution,
revolutionaries are depicted as grotesque
figures, malnourished, drunk, and filled
with bloodlust, surrounding a flaming
guillotine while axes drip blood upon them.
 Right: A revolutionary depiction of
counterrevolutionaries, painting them as
effeminate, twisted caricatures.
British Impressions
Left: In this cartoon by the well-known James
Gillray, Charles Fox (a prominent British Whig
politician, friend of the Prince of Wales, and
sympathizer with the French Revolution) is
depicted as if he were a sans-culottes, though
wearing no pants at all and breaking wind. He is
shown singing a revolutionary song and has
blood on his hands.
 Right: This image shows British impressions of
the two regimes: On the left is an effeminate
French noble, bowing in deference to the
revolutionary on the right, depicted as stern and
unfriendly.

It'll Be Okay
Tremble, Tyrants
 In
this revolutionary image, swords are
used to strike fear into the hearts of tyrants
– or members of the First and Second
Estates.
 In one of his speeches, Robespierre
defended the use of terror against
accusations that it was a tool of despotism
by comparing the sword of the patriotic
defenders of liberty to the sword of the
armies of tyrants: terror and swords were
merely tools, which could serve good or evil
ends.