1796 Festivals – Thermidor 1
Géricault Life
Char romain, ou Le Retour de la course (after Carle Vernet – detail), Théodore Géricault, oil on canvas 1808-1812, Musée des Beaux Arts de Rouen.
Géricault 1796
“This morning several people arrived at the Maison Longueville to purchase some tobacco. They wished to pay in coin, but were refused, such that one of these persons was obliged to exchange one gold coin and twenty sous in metal for a rescription (paper substitute for the assignat) of twenty-five livres, signed Roger.” Journal des Patriotes de 89, 16 Germinal An IV (5 April 1796)
“Various Books…At Paris, chez Lerouge, publisher, rue Nicaise, Maison Longueville. Customers living in foreign and conquered countries must pay in cash.” Gazette Nationale, ou Le Moniteur Universel, 18 prairial An IV (6 June 1796)
Théodore Géricault was born in Rouen on September 26, 1791. His family moved to Paris, where they lived in apartments on the rue de l’Université, in 1796, or 1797. As we have noted, Théodore Géricault’s family, by then, already had a strong presence in Paris – with family living in the Faubourg Saint-Germain nearby, on the rue de Belle Chasse and on the opposite side of the river Seine at the Hôtel de Longueville, also known as the Maison Longueville. After moving to Paris from Rouen, Georges Nicolas Géricault, Théodore Géricault’s father found employment at the family tobacco business situated at the Hôtel de Longueville.
In 1796, France struggled to manage a variety of economic problems, wage war in Europe and abroad, quell civil war and political unrest in France, and recover from famine. What was the mood of the populace in Paris in the summer and fall of this year? Press reports of the civic festivals held in Paris then, and after, (translated here into English) help us better understand the priorities and concerns of the people of Paris, and of government authorities, during this crucial period of Géricault’s life.
We present here four articles from the Paris press of 1796 discussing the Festival of Thermidor 9 and 10 of Year 4, (July 27 and 28, 1796) translated into English. We then provide commentary and context.
In this issue, we also present a review of the Festival of Thermidor 9 and 10 of Year VI held in Paris which was published in Rouen on July 31, 1796, in the Journal Politique et Litteraire de Normandie. We examine other festivals – such as the Festival of August 10, 1796 and the Foundation Day festival of Vendémiare 1, held on September 22, 1796, elsewhere.
Festival of Thermidor 9 and 10
The first press article is a summary of the events scheduled to take place at Festival of 9 and 10 Thermidor Year IV. The three other articles review the events which occured at the festivals. One of the most interesting of these, the review published anonymously in Le Censeur des Journaux on July 30, 1796, is also one of the most historically significant. We can confirm here for the first time, it seems, that the anonymous author of the Le Censeur review is Louis Sebastien Mercier, one of our most important observers of the revolutionary period. Mercier’s review of the ‘Fête du Thermidor An IV’ in Le Censeur is an earlier version of an essay which Mercier later published under his own name in Le Nouveau Paris Volume Cinquième, pp. 142-149, Paris: chez Fuchs, Ch. Pougens, et Ch. Fr. Cramer, Libraires. 1798.*
Press Reviews – Paris
1796 Le Republicain Français, 2 Thermidor Year IV (20 July 1796), “Paris. Program for the [upcoming] Festival of 9 and 10 Thermidor for the Canton of Paris. Day 1. The object of this first celebration is to place the most memorable events of the revolution before the eyes of the public. This event will take place on 9 Thermidor at the Champ-de-Mars (Field of Mars), known as the Réunion. The principal performances will take place on and around the earth raised in the center of the race course and gaming field. Special performances will depict individual scenes: the memorable taking of the Bastille on 14 July 1789, the complement of this journée (special day, or ‘secular’ holy day) will be fall of the throne in 1792.; the victory won on 9 Thermidor over the tyranny which succeeded royal rule, and the establishment of the Constitution of 1795; in the temple erected to honor Liberty, the directorate and the constitutional authorities will take the oath to live free or to die, and to defend the constitution accepted by the French people. Journée 2. This second festival is dedicated to games celebrating the establishment of Liberty, necessary for thoughtful creation of a wise constitution. Military musical bands will be situated on the field of the Réunion. This is where the foot and horse races will be held. These events will begin at five o’ clock in the afternoon. The victor of the foot races will receive a very handsome sabre from the judges of the games. The victor of the horse races will receive a pair of pistols d’arcon (pistols often mounted on either side of a saddle for military use), from the manufacture of Versailles. [This prize list is inaccurate, as we shall see.] The victors’ names, and those of the most distinguished after them, will be proclaimed publicly to the sound of fanfare. The following day these will be made public in the newspapers. In the evening, at eight o’ clock, the conservatory of music will perform a concert at the Place de la Concorde (on the opposite side of the Seine) with hymns to Liberty and songs in honor of the winners of the gymnastic competitions. Fireworks and an illumination will complete the festival and the journée. The participants in the performances and the games, both at the Champ-de-Mars and at the Place de la Concorde will be enclosed within a cordon tricolor. Only those performing or paricipating are permitted within this space. We invite all other citizens, in the name of their safety, to remain outside this boundary. Citizens who wish to compete for the race prizes are invited to present themselves at the direction générale de l’instruction publique (General Directorate of Public Education) to register themseleves at the office of national festivals, before 4 Thermidor.
1796 Le Republicain Français. 13 Thermidor An VI, (29 July 1796), “Paris… The prizes for the foot races have been announced, the first won by the citizen Tourton, son of the banker of this name; the second by the citizen Boscher. They received a fine sabre and a pair of pistols from the Versailles manufactory. Twenty-six racers competed. The victors of the horse races were Villate Carbonel, 16 years of age, nephew of a horse trader of this city, riding the Norman horse le Veneur; and Henri Francony 13 or 14 years of age, one of the children of the celebrated Francony, mounted upon the limosin horse Azor. Carbonel received a superb horse, with harness, and Francony a pair of pistols. The assembly of citizens was innumerable, both at the Champ de Mars and at the Champs Elysées, such that has not been seen since since the days of the federation of 14 July, 1790. The music, the fireworks and the ‘illuminations’ devised by Ruggiery, competed for the right to enchant our ears and our eyes; but a spectacle which could not fail to charm us was that offered by the assembly of an immense multitude of both sexes, which seemed to embrace a sentiment of lively pleasure without being boorish. Decency and constraint existed in equal measure among this gathering, calm as the air we breathe. One reads in the Journal de Paris, that perhaps four hundred thousand people assembled for the beautiful evening at the Champs Elysées. More than three hundred members of both councils celebrated Thermidor 9 with a fraternal and modest dinner, which was held in the Boutin garden.”
1796 Le Censeur des Journaux, 12 Thermidor An 4 (30 Juillet 1796), “If the number and polish of the carriages, if the coming together of the most elegant women, of the most marvelous young people and of the most splendidly dressed horses; if a crowd of spectators, forming a long procession from Paris to the Champ de Mars, and adorning the surrounding slopes in all their numbers; if all this, say I, defines a brilliant festival, though without a feast, then the organizers of the festival of 10 thermidor can flatter themselves that they succeeded. Who would have thought, seeing so much wealth lavished on the chariots and on the women, and so much gaiety spread across these faces, that we were still at war with a third of Europe, that blood flowed at the borders, and that the national treasury was exahausted? Who would have said, in considering this immense gathering of soldiers, horses, cabriolets, of women, jacobins, royalists and republicans, all mingling without colliding, all colliding without knocking each other over, all in turmoil without killing each other, that it was this same people who, drunk with blood and furious with carnage, cut each other’s throats for two years, and who are still, perhaps, cutting throats at this moment in Marseilles. A light, frivolous, inconsistent people, not evil, but good, when they are themselves, when they are not, in the hands of rebels, the instruments of revenge, or the object of a terrible speculation! I saw them yesterday in their tastes, in their habits, in their true element.”
“In repose, festivals and bread – these are all they demand, and this is what disrupts all the projects of the Numas d’anti-chambre (after the fabled Roman ruler), such as l’Abréviateur, who strive endlessly to make them into a fighting people, jealous and restless – a people of Spartans, always at war with the entire universe, contenting themselves in their hearths with meals of black broth, and rubbing their bodies with oil.”
“I was unable to enter the field of Mars. Only the elect could penetrate there, with or without cards, but always guided by one or two generals, of which there was no lack, and from whom those on foot would have desired more dexterity in the handling of their horses, and less ardor, to put it mildly, in repelling those who did not have the honor of belonging directly or indirectly among the chosen. In general, such a collapse of order is caused by those in charge, or by the insolence of those they employ. The people, frustrated to be always repulsed and never called to the feasts except to witness them from a great distance, forced the guard and pierced the enclosure in three or four places. The races did not at all measure up to all the extraordinary fanfare, I was told. They were as tawdry as the organizers’ evident inexperience would lead one to suppose. And so it was that the son of a horse dealer won first prize in the horse races.”
“Leaving behind the field of Mars, and accompanied by many of those who, like I, had been denied entry there, I took myself to the Champs d’Elysée. This was another spectacle, one might say even a different people, if the dances, games, and songs had not evoked a similar insouciance and amiable lightness.”
“But here there were no more brilliantly adorned women with their airs, nor were there any horses from England, nor elegants speaking the language of money. This was the simplicity of the bourgeois, this was working people, renters, a people of excellence, seated on the grass eating cherries and cakes, or walking gaily amidst the park of garlands, lanternes, and artificies which Ruggiery was assembling there.”
“The illumination and fireworks were not completed until very late; they took time to prepare, but those in attendence, occupied with their games, evinced no sense of boredom, or of impatience.”
“The darkness of the night, the sweetness of the air, the mingling of different groups, the dispositions of spirit, the sound of the dances, the magic of the trees, everything favoured friendly conversation, and seemed to encourage expressions of joy and goodwill.”
“It was close to eleven o’clock when the fires were lit. All know of Ruggiery’s talents for this sort of performance, which so fascinate the people of Paris, above all: one could not reproach the artist for their effect beyond mentioning that the spectacle was too brief, and perhaps set to reach an elevation less than might be desired.”
“The tableau of all these people encircled entirely by garlands of fire and pots of flame was a moment of special brilliance, but too brief, as is the general rule in such cases, memorable and sad; for to see these faces fixed upon this scene, long after the event had ended, one could discern all their regrets for things lost.”
“When each one was well assured that there was nothing further to see, the crowd began to disperse. But at this point, the most pleasant and remarkable coincidence occured, for can, perhaps, only be explained by the impact of just completed performance. Somehow, each of assembled no longer knew their route home; some entered the woods of Boulogne to make their way to Paris, others followed along the banks of the river towards the Tuileries. They wandered about in this adventure, and asked each other for directions. Everyone looked lost. They rubbed their eyes, eventually rediscovered their senses, and suffered no further inconvenience.”
“We cannot complete this article without citing among many other proofs that we have witnessed of the harmony and good will which reigned constantly during this evening festival and which made all Paris seem but one single family, the following episode, which would not be misplaced in a journal of morals.”
“Three of four bright sparks, who had been among those carrousing at the Champs du Mars, and whose skill at handling a horse was about the same as their understanding of the respect owed women, traversed a flower garden in which were seated a group of young girls beside their mothers and their younger brothers, and some soldiers who were not of any faction. They waltzed over, we are told, and swaying insultingly, sang the most odious and offensive of songs. A soldier approched them, and in a tone calm and honest, said to them: Citizens, one sings these songs in a bordello, not amidst a gathering of honest women and their families. The stunned youth desired no further instructions, and found safety in flight.”
(And from the same issue of Le Censeur, a short addendum on a related celebration) “The party given by Talien and his wife, reports l’Ami des Lois today, was held with the greatest joy and gentle brotherhood. There were raised toasts to the constitution of 95, to 9 thermidor, and to 14 july. That which most greatly excited the sensibilities of the guests were the images of Camille Desmoulins and of Phelippeaux, illuminated by more than a thousand lamps… More than a thousand!”
1796 Feuille du Jour, 12 Thermidor An IV (30 Juillet 1796 ), “The foot races and the horse races took place at the Champ de Mars, yesterday. The horse races attracted the attention of a great number of spectaters; it was the son of a horse dealer who obtained the prize; the foot races did not enjoy the same success. The public has none of the imaginative genius of Pindar, who saw, in the sickliest of nags, the noble daughters of the coursers of Elide; the people there saw nothing but a gathering of rascals playing ‘hide and seek’; the more clear-eyed found nothing there but a parody of the olympic games.”
* The original anonymous essay Mercier produced for the Le Censeur differs significantly in several key respects from the version Merci later published under his own name in Le Nouveau Paris, volume 5, in French from 1798. I will discuss these differences elsewhere; to date, I can locate no other source identifying Mercier as the anonymous author of review of the “Fête du Thermidor, an IV ” in Le Censeur des Journaux of July 30, 1796.
Commentary
The social critique of Paris in the summer of 1796 is as fascinating to us as the detailed description of the Festival of Thermidor at the Champ de Mars and the Champs-Elysées. We see here already discussions of politics, the obligations and duties of the state, and critical takes on the execution of the festival. We set this issues aside, for the most part. Clearly, Théodore Géricault had no interest in the politics of the time as a young child. Background to the Fête du Thermidor, an IV, 1796, and the festivals which follow, lies predominantly in the removal of Robespierre and his allies by Tallien, Barras, and their allies, on Thermidor 9-10, 1794; in the Constitution of 1795; and in the battles of Quiberon that summer, and of 13 Vendémiaire in the fall of 1795.*
Horse races, foot races, chariot races, dinners, illumations, fireworks, crowds, soldiers on horseback, horses pulling beautiful carriage, fruit, cakes, and bands playing music – all these would set the heart of young Théodore racing. Racing was at the heart of Géricault’s life.
The Festival of Liberty, as the Festival of Thermidor 9-10 was formally called, celebrated the victories of the people over despotism (the monarchy) and anarchy. Political and cultural conflict roiled beneath a veneer of civic unity, however. The people, according to Mercier, simply wanted peace and the opportunity to go about their lives. In our view, Géricault’s family was very much of this view and had no interest in taking any sort of political stand, beyond strengthening their connections with people in power. Indeed, we have every reason to believe that many members of Géricault’s family enjoyed these festivals as much as the other individuals and families who attended.
Henry Franconi, a member of the Franconi family of Cirque Olympique fame and a youth Théodore Géricault undoubtably knew very well, competed in the horse races at the Champs du Mars during the Festival of Liberty, an IV, in the summer of 1796, and won a pair of pistols for finishing second behind the “son of a horse dealer” in the final race. Théodore may well have been in Paris watching Henry compete. We cannot know how many of Géricault’s relations were present at the Champ de Mars, and the Champs Elysées, but the family’s wealth, influence, and political connections in Paris at this time were such that entry into Mercier’s “grounds for the elect” near the races would not have been a problem.
Antoine Carle Vernet, Géricault’s teacher, competed in the horse races held during the civic festival of Vendémiaire 1, an VII, in 1798 – celebrating the foundation of the French republic in Paris, finishing second in the races held then. Was Théodore present to watch this victory? We know Théodore loved horses as a child and his family was well established in Paris at that time. The Géricault painting at the top of this page is after Carle Vernet’s work below. Géricault’s studies, drawings, and paintings of race horses are among his finest and best known.
What is clear is that key figures in Géricault’s life competed in the horse races held at the civic festivals of Paris and that we can learn much about these races, and the festivals in general, by reading reviews and discussions of these events in the press of the day. We will present more perspectives on the festivities celebrated at the Champ de Mars and the Champs Elysée on thermidor 9 and 10, an IV in part 2 of this discussion.
“The Return from the Race” Carle Vernet, drawing, black chalk stumped and heightened with white, framiling line in light brown ink, black chalk and incised (69.7 x 101.3 cm. 1800. 94.GB.52.1, (caption and image courtesy of The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
*1795
The invasion of Quiberon on the west coast of France lasted a month from the landing of royalist troops on June 26, 1795 until their defeat on July 21st, which ended with the massacre of royalist prisoners. The first festival of Thermidor 9-10, known as Festival of Liberty, was therefore, both a celebration of the fall of Robespierre, in 1794, and a celebration over royalist forces at Quiberon in 1795. 13 Vendémiaire refers to another royalist defeat, this time in Paris on October 5, 1795. The battle between republican forces and royalists occured in the Tuileries close by the Géricault family residence, and place of business, at the Hôtel de Longueville. We believe Géricault was in Rouen at this time with his family. The citizens of Paris attempted an assault on the Tuileries palace, only to be defeated by Paul de Barras, a distant Géricault relation, assisted by a young artillery officer, Napoléon Bonaparte, who became famous for firing grapeshot from artillery pieces set up in the narrow Paris streets, shredding the attackers. The constitution of 1795 was set up to replace the constitution of 1793. The 1795 constitution laid out a series of provisions regarding national festivals, such as the Festival of Liberty, as part of a program of public education. We will discuss this constitution elsewhere.