In year II of the republican calendar (1793–94), a competition was held to design a monument commemorating those who had died on 10 August 1792 while storming the Tuileries Palace to depose the king. Lequeu witnessed the celebrations organized in their honor, and some of his marginal inscriptions on this entry are copied from the ephemeral monument erected outside the ruined palace at that time. Even though Lequeu’s design was exhibited in the Hall of Liberty—the assembly room of the Revolutionary Tribunal at the Conciergerie prison—the project was abandoned after Maximilien Robespierre’s dramatic fall from power in July 1794.
Jean-Jacques Lequeu (1757–1826)
Monument to the Glory of Illustrious Men, for the Place de la Victoire, from Civil Architecture, 1794
Pen and black ink, gray-blue wash, pen and red ink, watercolor
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Departement des Estampes et de la photographie
Jennifer Tonkovich: For most of the 18th century, French artists enjoyed the patronage of the king and the aristocracy, but these sources of support were dramatically affected by the Revolution when the king was executed, along with many of the aristocrats who hadn't already fled France. Some artists took sides in the political upheaval, such as the painter Jacques-Louis David, whose friendship with Robespierre eventually landed him in prison. Others saw their careers founder or flourished, based on their allegiance. Many who were closely associated with the Ancien Régime left Paris to find work abroad. Remarkably, Lequeu navigated the changing cultural landscape, having only briefly worked with private aristocratic patrons before the Revolution. After a period of insecurity, he focused his energy on teaching, while participating in revolutionary competitions and securing a position with the new government's land registry office. The rest of his mature career unfolded under Napoleon's leadership. This made him part of the new order, which lasted until Napoleon's final downfall at Waterloo in 1815. Lequeu was forced into retirement that year, which marked the return of the monarchy and the start of the Bourbon Restoration. This design for a monument celebrating the martyrs of the Revolution shows Lequeu rallying to the revolutionary cause. But is this from professional expediency, or a reflection of his personal, political sympathies? On the verso, the artist scrawled a comment referring to the 1790s as "the time when human victims were sacrificed to liberty". And on the back of a design for a city gate displayed nearby, he claimed that it "saved me from the guillotine". These remarks, even if in jest, reveal a keen awareness that art and politics could be a matter of life and death.