History
Explain the meaning of the painting of the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen (Fig. 8) by reading only the symbols.
French Revolution
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Answer
The symbols used in the painting of the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen were:
- The broken chain stands for liberty and freedom. It shows end of feudalism and oppression.
- The bundle of rods or fasces represent unity and strength.
- The eye within a triangle radiating light was all-seeing that eye stands for knowledge. The rays of the sun aim to drive away the clouds of ignorance.
- Red Phrygian cap was a symbol representing the overthrow of tyranny and the assertion of individual rights.
- Blue-white-red were the national colours of France.
- The winged woman represents law.
- Snake biting its tail to form a ring was the Symbol of Eternity as this ring has neither beginning nor end.
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Related Questions
Representatives of the Third Estate take the oath raising their arms in the direction of Bailly, the President of the Assembly, standing on a table in the centre. Do you think that during the actual event Bailly would have stood with his back to the assembled deputies? What could have been David’s intention in placing Bailly the way he has done?
Identify the symbols in Box 1 which stand for liberty, equality and fraternity.
Compare the political rights which the Constitution of 1791 gave to the citizens with Articles 1 and 6 of the Declaration (Source C). Are the two documents consistent? Do the two documents convey the same idea?
Source C
The Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen
- Men are born and remain free and equal in rights.
- The aim of every political association is the preservation of the natural and inalienable rights of man; these are liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression.
- The source of all sovereignty resides in the nation; no group or individual may exercise authority that does not come from the people.
- Liberty consists of the power to do whatever is not injurious to others.
- The law has the right to forbid only actions that are injurious to society.
- Law is the expression of the general will. All citizens have the right to participate in its formation, personally or through their representatives. All citizens are equal before it.
- No man may be accused, arrested or detained, except in cases determined by the law.
- Every citizen may speak, write and print freely; he must take responsibility for the abuse of such liberty in cases determined by the law.
- For the maintenance of the public force and for the expenses of administration a common tax is indispensable; it must be assessed equally on all citizens in proportion to their means.
- Since property is a sacred and inviolable right, no one may be deprived of it, unless a legally established public necessity requires it. In that case a just compensation must be given in advance.
Which groups of French society would have gained from the Constitution of 1791? Which groups would have had reason to be dissatisfied? What developments does Marat (Source B) anticipate in the future?
Source B
The revolutionary journalist Jean-Paul Marat commented in his newspaper L’Ami du peuple (The friend of the people) on the Constitution drafted by the National Assembly:
‘The task of representing the people has been given to the rich … the lot of the poor and oppressed will never be improved by peaceful means alone. Here we have absolute proof of how wealth influences the law. Yet laws will last only as long as the people agree to obey them. And when they have managed to cast off the yoke of the aristocrats, they will do the same to the other owners of wealth.’
Source: An extract from the newspaper L’Ami du peuple.