THE PLACE CONCORDE POWER SYMBOL CHANGES WITH THE REVOLUTION
Place Louis XV vers 1775 vue de la rive gauche attributed to Alexandre-Joël Noel / zoom
During the Revolution the statue is melted down for cannons, as in the other royal places.
L'Inauguration de Louis XV, 1763; The central figure is the Governor of Paris / zoom
The guillotine replaces it for the execution of Louis XVI, for its symbol and because it alone is large enough to hold the crowd (it was the largest urban space in Europe):
L'Exécution de Louis XVI by Geog Heirich Sieveking / zoom
On the morning of January 21, 1793,
the streets are silent...
A drum roll drowns out the king's last words.
When Parisians tire of the bloodshed the guillotine is moved outside town and a statue of Liberty replaces it (in 1794):
*Far to the east, to what is now place de la République: for one of its dramas, please click and scroll down.
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Place de la Concorde et la Statue de la Liberté, attributed to François-Frédéric Lamot, between 1795 and 1799 / zoom |
Robespierre precipitates his fate
He and allies dine separately from a group they menace at a nearby restaurant (Ledoyen, which is still there), then all meet under the statue. His statement regarding future executions convinces his opponents that they will be next: They overthrow and guillotine him two days later.
-- The dinner and conversation, Le Sept Thermidor
in "Notre-Dame de Thérmidor" by Arsène Houssaye, 1867 (in French)
Napoleon demolishes the statue when he becomes Emperor (in 1804). The restored monarchy plans a statue of Louis XVI, waits 11 years to lay the first stone of its base... and does nothing more.
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| Place Louis XVI à la Restauration / gone from the web |
For almost 40 years the "place" is empty.
End of this section.
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