Browse Items (56 total)

http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/files/original/3f46b0192de1c836c2e098c3a3a59d91.jpg

1793-1794

Using a woman to represent "Fraternity" seems ironic at best, although theoretically the term might mean the community of humanity. In actuality, when the revolutionaries considered "community," they certainly thought of men far more than women. The…
http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/files/original/bcd70041216c1d07cc8c7c4361bc8c40.jpg

1793-1794

At the beginning of the Revolution, the term "equality" meant an end to the legal differences that had characterized the Old Regime. For example, all individuals would be subject to the same regimen of taxation. Over the course of the decade,…
http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/files/original/3acfbc241c7ed8faad1081b47aeca35f.jpg

1793-1794

Even before the Revolution, the French had used a woman in a toga to symbolize liberty. By July 1789 this symbol had become quite common and would only grow more familiar over the revolutionary decade. Generally the female Liberty was a poised…
http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/files/original/e7f9b59088f9cc30f5b652e7b2e9a653.jpg

1793

This cartoon by the popular British caricaturist James Gillray depicts the British politician Charles James Fox as a sans–culotte. Wearing a cockade in his wig and a bandage on his forehead, the unshaven Fox raises his bloody left hand as he lifts…
http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/files/original/594c57a3431dc8c964b1e62974e94caf.jpg

1802

Even though popular action had unseated the Legislative Assembly and replaced it with the Convention, the elections that followed had not satisfied the radicals of Paris and their artisanal followers. From 31 May to 2 June 1793, these Parisians…
http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/files/original/47232d20141baa93e401c82b4c5dbd85.jpg

1802

The extremely respectful view of sans–culotte militancy is evident in this image, engraved by the revolutionary sculptor Berthault and based on a painting by Fragonard, the son of the famous old regime painter. Imitating an old master’s interior…
http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/files/original/c1d9493a254f39c64cbe6729dddb0de7.jpg

1791-1795

The guillotine was first introduced as a humane, efficient, and above all modern form of execution in April 1792; during the radical phase of the Republic, it would become the symbol of the Terror. This engraving suggests the guillotine is providing…
http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/files/original/9357d205db12349dd0e9a471686e1997.jpg

1819

From an English periodical of 1819, this antirevolutionary print portrays the sans–culottes as drunkards anxious to destroy by fire, gallows, and guillotine rather than to work for their own good. The image satirizes the idea of sans–culotte…
http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/files/original/824c708f09e542a311d72ad955765acc.jpg

1789-1790

This engraving depicts a revolutionary club as a circus act complete with dancing dogs and clowns, all celebrating "the law and the King." This image might have been visual propaganda on behalf of clubs, suggesting that they could bring different…
http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/files/original/f93e7fe813cd63fc73d60062033da608.jpg

1794-1795

The shoemaker shown here is president of his neighborhood revolutionary committee. Although this engraving does not portray a specific political activity, the character evokes hostility toward laborers and artisans who involved themselves in…
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