Art, Music and Symbolism of the French Revolution

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Art, Music and Symbolism of the French Revolution
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The Marseillaise
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The Liberty/Phrygian Cap
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• 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.

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LION
ROOSTER
SYMBOLS OF THEREVOLUTION
FASCES
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• 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.

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LEVEL
TRIANGLE
SCALE
EYE
PYRAMID
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• 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.

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Handshake
Epée
Crosier
Beehive
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• 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.

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TABLETS
LIBERTY TREE
HYDRA
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• 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.

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The Three Estates on Their Way to Versailles
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• 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.

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Louis XVI Aiding His People
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• 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.

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Louis XVI and Lafayette
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• 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.

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Louis XVI Wearing the Cap
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• 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).

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Louis XVI Three Perspectives, One Goal
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• 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.

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The King and Queen
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• In these images, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
  are depicted as a demonic swine and a draconic
  harpy, respectively.
• Such images are quite obviously anti-monarchy.

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The Royal Animals
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• 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.

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The Fall of the Bastille
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• 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.

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The Tennis Court Oath
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• 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.

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Revolutionary Meetings Three Perspectives
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• 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.

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THE ARREST OF
THE ROYAL FAMILY
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• 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.

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The Execution of Louis XVI
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• 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.

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Ramifications of the Execution
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• 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.

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FATES OF THE FIRST AND SECOND ESTATES
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• 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.

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Welcome to Hades, a Not-So-Friendly Community
Louis XVI Arrives in Hell
Robespierre and His Followers Arrive in Hell
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• 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.

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THE MANY DEATHS OF JEAN-PAUL MARAT
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• 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.

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Secular Saint and Saintly Killer
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• 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.

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Revolutionaries and Counterrevolutionaries
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• 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.

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British Impressions
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• 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.

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It'll Be Okay
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Tremble, Tyrants
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• 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.