AT THE LAST ROYAL "PLACE," CHANGE BEGINS

THE PLACE CONCORDE POWER SYMBOL CHANGES WITH THE REVOLUTION

The site's design follows that of place des Vosges (adapted to the river bank):

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

Victor Hugo says that an arm outstretched in command of the statue was the only element that stayed intact when 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 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):

       L'Exécution de Louis XVI by Geog Heirich Sieveking / zoom 

,

On the morning of January 21, 1793, 

 the streets are silent...

Shops shut, shutters closed. Soldiers surround place de la Concorde, 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. 

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 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 does nothing more.

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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Next section,
IV.1.5.
The curtain falls