Visualizing the Revolution: Politics and Pictorial Arts in Late Eighteenth-Century France (Reaktion Books - Picturing History)

The French Revolution was marked by a wealth of imagery and visual symbolism that inspired the masses to fight for freedom. Visualizing the Revolution surveys the rich and multifaceted visual culture of the French Revolution, exploring its creation and how it conveyed the new revolutionary sensibilities of the era. Unlike most studies on art of the French Revolution, Visualizing the Revolution embraces a wide range of artistic genres—including prints, architecture, painting, and sculpture—and also draws upon archival documents to investigate the period’s aesthetic concerns. The authors break new ground in methodology and interpretative practice as they tease out the web of connections between these various historical artifacts and argue for the central place of the arts in the transmission of ideas and the political manipulation of the populace. The book translates the provocatively new visual language revealed in these artworks and writings and shows how its emphasis on metaphor, allegory, and symbolism transformed French mass visual culture. An innovative and lushly illustrated study, Visualizing the Revolution is a worthy new contribution to scholarship on the French Revolution and the history of French art. Annotation Translated by Corinne Attwood The French Revolution was marked by a wealth of imagery and visual symbolism that inspired the masses to fight for freedom. Visualizing the Revolution surveys the rich and multifaceted visual culture of this time, exploring its creation and how it conveyed the new revolutionary sensibilities of the era. Unlike most studies of art of the French Revolution, Visualizing the Revolution embraces a wide range of artistic genres #x96; including prints, architecture, painting and sculpture #x96; and also draws on archival documents and other historical literature to investigate the period's aesthetic concerns. Reichardt and Kohle break new ground in methodology and interpretative practice as they trace the intricate web of connections between these various historical artifacts and argue for the central place of the arts in the transmission of ideas and the political manipulation of the populace #x96; both educated and illiterate. Visualizing the Revolution translates the provocatively new visual language revealed in these artworks and writings and reveals how its emphasis on metaphor, allegory and symbolism transformed French mass visual culture. An innovative and well-illustrated study, Visualizing the Revolution is a valuable new contribution to scholarship on the French Revolution and the history of French art Imprint......Page 6 Contents......Page 7 Introduction: On the Threshold of a New Era for the Arts......Page 9 1 Staging the Revolution......Page 15 2 Contemporary Images of Revolutionary Change......Page 37 3 Scenes of the New Political and Cultural Order......Page 93 4 Reorganizing the Artistic Sphere......Page 133 5 From Aristocrat to New Man......Page 152 6 Between Terror and Freedom......Page 185 7 Visualizing the Revolution......Page 214 Chronology......Page 242 References......Page 253 Bibliography......Page 280 Index......Page 293 The authors explore the complex, many-faceted visual culture of the French Revolution, which took place in a period characterised by the creation of a new visual language steeped in metaphor, symbol and allegory.