AT THE LAST ROYAL "PLACE," CHANGE BEGINS

AT PLACE CONCORDE THE POWER SYMBOL CHANGES WITH THE REVOLUTION

The design of the place follows that of place des Vosges (with an adaptation to the river bank):

Place Louis XV toward 1775 Seen from the Left Bank attributed to Alexandre-Joël Noel / zoom

During the Revolution the statue is melted down for cannons, as in the other royal places.

The Inauguration of Louis XV, 1763; The central figure is the Governor of Paris  / zoom

Victor Hugo says that an arm outstretched in command of the statue was the only element that stayed intact when the it was toppled. When the Bastille was taken it was given a prisoner, whom that king had left there 40 years before. Since there is no outstretched arm, that must be a legend, but legends reflect what people how people feel.

-- Ninety-three by Victor Hugo, ed.1979, p. 153 

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):

   The Execution of Louis XVI  by Geog Heirich Sieveking / zoom 

,

On the morning of January 21, 1793, 

 the streets are silent...

Shops shut, shutters closed. Soldiers ring the place, with thousands of hushed Parisians behind them. 

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. 

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 Thérmidor 

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 forgets about it.

Place Louis XVI during the Restauration  / Internet, gone in 2023

For almost 40 years the place is empty.

End of this section. 

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Next section,
IV.
The curtain falls