THE ARC DE TRIOMPHE'S LAME HOMAGE TO THE PLEBES

TO UNITE THE FRENCH AROUND HIM, LOUIS-PHILIPPE COMPLETES THE MONUMENT THAT NAPOLEON BEGAN

(IN 1836)

He thanks the humble for bringing him to power by showing soldiers as men of the people for the first time:

Claude Abron

Till then, warriors were shown as Romans, whether they were kings, nobles — adversaries included  — or leaders of mercenaries:

Louis XIII at place des Vosges,  Louis XIV at the Musée Carnavalet

At the Saint-Denis gate, 1674 / Carolyn Ristau

Nobles fight other nobles, not commoners 

Soldiers' Pay, scene from the tapestry The Fruits of War., 1546-1548 at the Renaissance Museum / zoom

...but commoners were anonymous, like the fighters in paintings about 1830

 

             The Angel of Death Defeats Sennarcherib, 17th century / zoom

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But on the frieze at the top of the Arc soldiers of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic armies are courageous, determined, individualized, ordinary...

Photos from the diorama at the arch's summit

 ...and need binoculars to decipher 

          Claude Abron

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Next,

The July Column, as evasive