Saturday 20 July 2013

Les pères de la démocratie

Pray let me return to the former royal tennis court for one last post. These gents, who took the tennis court oath, are some of the founding fathers of the French democracy (though a lot of blood was to be shed in the processs...) Clockwise from top left: l'Abbé Grégoire, Boissy d'Anglas, La Révellière Lepeaux, Volney, Buzot, Sieyès, Le Chapelier. The latter is best known for the free enterprise law. The photo on the left shows Guillotin. The guillotine is falsely attributed to him. Finally, below, Count Mirabeau.

Qu'il me soit permis de revenir à la salle du jeu de paume une dernière fois. Ces bustes des hommes qui firent le serment sont ceux de certains des pères de notre démocratie (quoiqu'il a fallu que beaucoup de sang coule...) Dans le sens des aiguilles d'une montre et à partir du haut à gauche : l'Abbé Grégoire, Boissy d'Anglas, La Révellière Lepeaux, Volney, Buzot, l'Abbé Sieyès, Le Chapelier (ce dernier étant mieux connu pour sa loi sur la libre entreprise). A gauche, monsieur Guillotin. Contrairement à ce que l'on pourrait croire, il n'est pas le père de la guillotine. Enfin, ci-dessous, le comte de Mirabeau.

15 comments:

Sylvia K said...

Interesting history and a great post for the day, Ciel! I love the detail of the faces!

Lowell said...

A sober set of gentlemen. I hope Guillotin was not given bad treatment due to the guillotine being falsely attributed to him. I mean, it's hard enough when you get bad press for things that you actually did.

Is it just me or do most all of these men pictured have quite large noses? :)

Bob Crowe said...

Our countries have common philosophical roots in this area. The signers of the Declaration of Independence literally put their lives on the line. But, we must remember, history is written by the winners.

Randy said...

Nice looking busts.

Small City Scenes said...

Quite a Rogues Gallery you have there.
The tennis court oath, hmmmm. No jumping the net or? (I read it. I read it.)
MB

Thérèse said...

Quelle bonne idée ces bustes et surtout les noms qui s'y appliquent.

VP said...

I am quite happy to know something on at least five of these gentlemen...
You outbusted me 9-1!

cieldequimper said...

@ VP: lol! :-)

Unknown said...

If they only knew what's going on in some of the so called democratic countries nowadays!...

Lowell said...

Re your response: Only the nose knows! And as to Cassandra: she is one of the twin kittens we just adopted about three weeks ago. They are typical cats - called tortoiseshell which refers to their color. They're Cassandra and Cleopatra - very smart and lots of fun. Cassie is the most active. She knows good stuff comes out of the refrigerator so she's right there as soon as it opens and sometimes when you try to close it, she puts her paw up to stop you. Also, if I give her a little treat on a paper plate and pick it up too soon, she bats my hand away with her paw. Funny!

Jack said...

Wonderful, Ciel. I like to photograph busts like these. Thanks for the information about French history.

Birdman said...

Off with his head then!

PerthDailyPhoto said...

Too late Birdman..the heads are already off haha. You have a very nice shot of the 'team' Ciel :)

Dave-CostaRicaDailyPhoto.com said...

The look quite aristocratic for democratic revolutionaries.

Anonymous said...

A very noble looking collection of 'busts'!