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4. Is there anything left to discover about the crowd in the French Revolution? Can we contribute to the issues raised by Rudé, Soboul, and Andrews over the last 30 years? Is the crowd a new topic for representation in late eighteenth-century France, and if so, why is that important?
 
question 4 Warren Roberts, 6-9-03, 9:54 AM
RE: question 4 Jack Censer, 6-12-03, 4:46 PM
    what can we learn about the crowd Lynn Hunt, 6-23-03, 11:04 PM
RE: what can we learn about the crowd Barbara Day-Hickman, 7-15-2003,
12:58 PM
RE: what can we learn about the crowd Jack Censer, 7-17-2003, 10:18 AM
Response to Jack Warren Roberts,
7-21-03, 8:03 AM
Responses to Barbara Warren Roberts,
7-19-03, 10:31 AM

RE: Response to Warren and Final Remarks Barbara Day-Hickman,
7-25-03, 1:14 PM

Response to Barbara Warren Roberts, 7-28-03, 10:33 AM

Subject: Responses to Warren and Final Remarks
Posted By: Barbara Day-Hickman
Date Posted: 7-25-03, 1:14 PM

May I make one final riposte to Warren regarding his comments about the relationship between Prieur’s “Hanging of Foulon” and the “Bertier de Sauvigny” engraving. While Prieur may have constructed an intentional contrast by using a “distanced” perspective in the former, and a more gruesome “directness” in the latter, the formality of the visual narrative in both prints still disengages the viewer from the horror of the recognition scene. The “Bertier” print, in particular, describes a relatively orderly procession, much like the classical relief of a temple frieze. It would thus seem to emphasize the ritualistic rather than macabre nature of the event. Furthermore, Christian statues in the background of the Bertier scene plus the gothic vertical lines on the church wall suggest the sacrificial implications of the narrative. The juxtaposition of the head of Foulon and the Christian statues may not necessarily register an ironic contrast but rather some sort of religious endorsement of the event. In other words, the backdrop of Saint-Merry could legitimize the sacrifice of Foulon and Bertier as an expression of the righteous indignation of the crowd. Prieur reinforces this idea by showing a purposeful crowd moving in one direction across the middle ground of the print. He also softens the impact of crowd violence by including (male) children who endeavor to emulate the bravado and prowess of the soldiers and citizens in the foreground. Consequently, despite the magnification of the “Bertier” narrative, Prieur nevertheless reduces the impact of crowd violence through the elegance of his style, the orderliness of the narrative, and the classical format of his “convoi funèbre.” I would therefore agree with Lynn that accomplished and pro-revolutionary artists, such as Prieur, muted the threatening nature of crowd violence with both style and intention.
 
 
 
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