The French Revolution - History of France : 1789 | Complete BBC Documentary

Summary

The video script narrates the profound impact of the French Revolution on art and symbols of power. It delves into the concept of iconoclasm, where revolutionaries destroyed art and symbols to challenge the status quo. The story unfolds through the lens of historical figures like King Louis XVI, Robespierre, and the people's movement from Versailles to Paris. The destruction of the Bastille, the decapitation of royal statues, and the transformation of Notre Dame into a 'Temple of Reason' are pivotal moments highlighted. The script also draws parallels with modern acts of defiance through art, such as graffiti, asserting the ongoing struggle for control over public symbols. It concludes by emphasizing the enduring battle for power over symbolic representation in Paris, reminding viewers that symbols shape our perception of the world and that control over them is always at stake.

Takeaways

• 🎨 The French Revolution was a significant period where art and symbols were used and transformed as a form of political expression, often leading to the destruction of royal, religious, and aristocratic symbols.
• ⚖️ The revolution marked a shift in power from the monarchy and aristocracy to the people, with the visual world becoming a battlefield for this power struggle.
• 🏰 The Palace of Versailles, with its 750 rooms and extensive gardens, was not just a symbol of royal extravagance but also the administrative heart of the ancient regime government.
• 🤝 The Tennis Court Oath was a pivotal moment in the revolution where the Third Estate swore to remain in session until a constitution was established for France, signifying the birth of constitutional politics.
• 🗽 The revolutionaries saw themselves not as vandals but as agents of change, transforming the city of Paris and its art to reflect new political and social values.
• 🗑️ The destruction of the Bastille was a powerful act of iconoclasm, turning the symbol of royal despotism into an emblem of freedom, and the materials from the prison were repurposed for revolutionary souvenirs.
• 🛠️ The revolution involved a systematic alteration and destruction of religious imagery and symbols, with churches being transformed into temples of reason and religious statues being destroyed or repurposed.
• 👑 The toppling of statues of kings, such as that of Louis XV, represented the physical dismantling of royal authority and the reclamation of power by the populace.
• 📜 The revolutionaries' graffiti and modifications to public and religious buildings were acts of defiance and assertions of new political ideologies.
• 👥 The role of the people as participants in the revolution was significant, with ordinary citizens taking active roles in the iconoclastic activities and the redefinition of public space.
• 🔄 The French Revolution demonstrates the mutable nature of symbols and the ongoing struggle for control over public imagery and memory, with symbols being continuously reshaped to reflect the values of those in power.

Q & A

What is the main focus of Richard Clay's study as an art historian?

Richard Clay's study as an art historian focuses not just on the creation of art, but also on its destruction, particularly in the context of the French Revolution.

What term is used to describe the destruction and transformation of art and symbols during a revolution?

The term used to describe the destruction and transformation of art and symbols during a revolution is 'iconoclasm'.

What was the significance of the Oath of the Tennis Court in 1789?

The Oath of the Tennis Court in 1789 was significant because it marked the birth of constitutional politics in France, where representatives of the Third Estate swore to meet until a constitution was established.

How did the French Revolution change the perception of power?

The French Revolution changed the perception of power by shifting it from the divine right of kings to the sovereignty of the people, emphasizing that power comes from the populace rather than from a divine source.

What was the role of art in the lives of the French aristocracy?

For the French aristocracy, art was primarily an intellectual experience that demonstrated their vast knowledge and marked their social distinction. It was also used to justify their role in society.

How did the revolutionaries transform the Palace of Versailles?

The revolutionaries transformed the Palace of Versailles from a symbol of royal power to a symbol of the new political order by destroying and removing the symbols of the monarchy, aristocracy, and church.

What was the significance of the statue of Louis XV being vandalized during the revolution?

The vandalization of the statue of Louis XV was a form of iconoclasm and a powerful act of protest against the king, symbolizing the rejection of the monarchy and the demand for change.

Why did the revolutionaries target religious art and symbols?

The revolutionaries targeted religious art and symbols as part of the de-christianization process, aiming to remove the influence of the church and establish a new order based on reason and the ideals of the revolution.

What was the role of the guillotine during the French Revolution?

The guillotine was used as a method of execution during the French Revolution, particularly as part of the Reign of Terror, symbolizing the swift and severe justice meted out to those deemed unfaithful to the revolution.

How did the fall of the Bastille symbolize a shift in power?

The fall of the Bastille symbolized a shift in power from the monarchy to the people, as it was transformed from a symbol of royal despotism into an emblem of freedom and a rallying point for the revolutionaries.

What was the Cult of the Supreme Being and why was it significant?

The Cult of the Supreme Being was a new religious movement introduced by Robespierre during the French Revolution, aiming to replace Christianity with a state-sponsored deity representing reason. It was significant as an attempt to further distance the revolution from traditional religious authority and consolidate the new revolutionary ideals.

Outlines

00:00

🎨 Art and the French Revolution

Richard Clay, an art historian, explores the French Revolution through the lens of art's destruction and its role in societal change. He discusses iconoclasm, the intentional destruction of art and symbols, as a revolutionary act. Clay examines Versailles, the ultimate expression of royal power, and how it became a target for revolutionaries aiming to dismantle the old regime. He delves into the revolution's impact on art, symbols, and the power structures of monarchy, church, and aristocracy.

05:02

🗣️ The Oath at the Tennis Court

The narrative shifts to the birth of constitutional politics at the royal tennis courts in 1789. The third estate, representing the majority of the French people, demanded more representatives and, denied their rightful space, gathered at the tennis court where they swore an oath to remain until a constitution was established for France. This moment is captured in David's painting, which, despite appearing consensual, had figures like Robespierre contemplating the gravity of their actions, marking the dawn of modern France.

10:03

🏛️ The Power of Art and Religion

The script discusses the power of art, particularly religious art, in the lives of the French majority in 1789. Art was not merely aesthetic but had the power to intervene in people's lives, with religious images capable of saving souls and addressing daily struggles. The immersive and real experience of religious art is contrasted with the intellectual and aesthetic appreciation of art by the aristocracy. The elite's use of art to demonstrate their knowledge and social status is paralleled with contemporary attitudes towards art.

15:04

⚔️ The Siege of the Bastille and Symbolic Transformation

The account moves to the storming of the Bastille, a symbol of royal despotism, and its transformation into a symbol of freedom. The Parisians, fearing an Austrian invasion, turned their anger towards the Bastille, seeking arms and gunpowder. The siege resulted in the dismantling of the Bastille, symbolizing the fall of despotism. The destruction was not random but a powerful message of the people's sovereignty, with the decapitated statue of the king representing the new political order.

20:05

🏛️ The Iconoclasm and the Church's Wealth

The Parisian government, seeking control and funds, turned its attention to the wealth of the Church. The clergy, anticipating the law's change, distributed much of their silverware. However, as the revolution progressed, the silver statue of Mary had to be melted down. This act, alongside the growing calls for radical iconoclasm, marked the beginning of the attack on the old world, targeting the church and aristocracy, and embedding the marks of destruction in the city's walls.

25:07

👥 The People's March and the Royal Family's Return

The narrative describes the march of Parisians to Versailles in October 1789, fueled by hunger and anger, which culminated in the royal family's return to Paris under the watchful eyes of the people. The silent treatment and the back-turned crowds symbolized the people's discontent with the king. The printmaker's depiction of the royal family's return and the blindfolding of Louis XV's statue by young boys underscored the public's perception of the king as a traitor to his people and the revolution.

30:07

🎭 The King's Mockery and the Culture of Resistance

The script explores the transformation of royal statues and the king's own image into tools of mockery. It highlights the Parisians' ability to turn symbols into powerful attacks on the monarchy. The dialogue with a modern graffiti artist, So What, draws parallels between the actions of the revolutionaries and contemporary acts of defiance. The artist's project, involving the transformation of a supermarket into a canvas for protest, reflects the historical tradition of resistance and the power of symbols in public spaces.

35:10

🗽 The Fall of Royal Statues and the Struggle for Control

The account details the toppling of royal statues across Paris, symbolizing the end of the monarchy and the rise of the people's power. The physical transformation of these statues, such as the melting down of the debris to create cannons, represented a material change and a rejection of the old regime. The preservation of some statue heads and their eventual discovery in 1977 provided clues to the revolutionaries' intentions and the struggle for control over public symbols.

40:10

🛕 The De-Christianization and the Cult of Reason

The revolution's attack on the church, known as de-christianization, transformed religious spaces into temples of reason. The removal, alteration, or destruction of religious symbols was a state-sponsored campaign. The festival of reason at Notre Dame and the transformation of religious imagery into symbols of the republic demonstrated the revolutionaries' challenge to the authority of the church. Despite the radical changes, the deeply ingrained Catholicism of the French people proved hard to eradicate.

45:10

🔨 The Work of Revolutionary Iconoclasts

Franco Dojon and his team of masons were tasked with transforming the religious iconography of the South Peace church. They worked at great heights, altering statues and symbols to align with revolutionary ideals. The lengths they went to, including removing the church's bells to mint coins bearing the symbol of the republic, demonstrated the extent of the revolution's iconoclastic efforts. Despite the dangers and the high fees they charged, their work was a testament to their commitment to the revolution.

50:12

🌟 The Cult of the Supreme Being and the End of the Revolution

The rise and fall of the Cult of the Supreme Being marked a pivotal moment in the revolution. The festival celebrating the new cult included a spectacle with a mountain and a column topped by a figure of Hercules. However, within six weeks, Robespierre was arrested, and the cult ended with his execution. The radicalism of the revolution waned, and with Napoleon's rise and fall, the royals returned, symbolizing the ongoing struggle for control over symbols of power in Paris.

Keywords

💡Iconoclasm

Iconoclasm refers to the destruction of icons, art, and symbols that are associated with a particular faith or belief system. In the context of the video, it is used to describe the deliberate destruction and transformation of art and symbols during the French Revolution as a means to challenge and overthrow the established power structures, such as the monarchy, the church, and the aristocracy. The video discusses how revolutionaries used iconoclasm to symbolically and physically dismantle the old regime.

💡French Revolution

The French Revolution, which began in 1789, was a period of radical social and political change in France that had a profound impact on the nation and the world. It marked the decline of powerful monarchies and the rise of democracy and secularism. The video uses the French Revolution as a backdrop to explore the role of art and symbolism in political upheaval, focusing on how revolutionary actions transformed the visual and symbolic landscape of the country.

💡Enlightenment

The Enlightenment was an intellectual and philosophical movement in the 17th and 18th centuries that emphasized reason, individualism, and skepticism of traditional authority. The video highlights how the ideas of the Enlightenment, such as liberty, equality, and fraternity, inspired the French Revolution and influenced the revolutionaries' approach to transforming society, including the destruction of symbols of the old regime to make way for new political and social orders.

💡Versailles

Versailles was a symbol of royal power and opulence in France, with its extravagant palace and gardens. The video discusses Versailles as the epicenter of the old regime's government and as a target of revolutionary iconoclasm. The narrative explains how the palace's grandeur was a representation of the wealth and power concentrated in the hands of the monarchy, which was later challenged by the revolutionaries.

💡Tennis Court Oath

The Tennis Court Oath was a pivotal event during the early stages of the French Revolution when members of the Third Estate, representing the common people, pledged to remain assembled until a new constitution was established for France. The video uses this event to illustrate the birth of constitutional politics and the people's assertion of their power against the divine right of kings.

💡Vandalism

Vandalism typically refers to the willful destruction of or damage to property. However, the video challenges this notion by examining the actions of the French revolutionaries, who were accused of vandalism for their destruction of royal and religious symbols. It argues that their actions were not mindless but a strategic form of political protest aimed at dismantling the old regime's power structures.

💡Bastille

The Bastille was a prison and a symbol of royal despotism in France. Its storming by the revolutionaries on July 14, 1789, marked a significant turning point in the French Revolution. The video describes the transformation of the Bastille from a feared prison to a symbol of freedom, highlighting how the revolutionaries dismantled it as an act of defiance and reclamation of power.

💡De-Christianization

De-Christianization refers to the process of removing or suppressing Christianity and its influence from society, which occurred during the later stages of the French Revolution. The video details how churches, including Notre Dame, were transformed into temples of reason, and how religious symbols and art were systematically removed, altered, or destroyed to reflect the new secular order.

💡Cult of Reason

The Cult of Reason was a movement during the French Revolution that sought to replace traditional religious worship with a secular, rationalist alternative. The video discusses the establishment of this cult, which held festivals of reason and transformed religious spaces into temples dedicated to the deity of reason, symbolizing the shift away from the dominance of the church and towards the enlightenment ideals.

💡Robespierre

Maximilien Robespierre was a leading figure in the French Revolution and a key architect of the Reign of Terror, a period of extreme violence and repression. The video mentions Robespierre in the context of his efforts to limit the power of the radical Paris Commune and his role in the de-Christianization campaign. His fall from power and execution marked the end of the radical phase of the revolution.

💡Napoleon

Napoleon Bonaparte was a military and political leader who rose to power in the aftermath of the French Revolution. The video briefly notes Napoleon's coup and his subsequent rule, which did not lead to the democratic ideals of the revolution but instead established an authoritarian regime. His fall from power in 1815 and the return of the monarchy illustrate the ongoing struggle for control over the symbols and narrative of power in France.

Highlights

Richard Clay, an art historian, explores the destruction of art and its significance during the French Revolution.

Iconoclasm, the destruction of icons and symbols, was used as a tool to challenge the power structures of monarchy, church, and aristocracy.

The revolutionaries transformed art and symbols to establish a new political order, coining the term 'vandalism' in the process.

The Palace of Versailles, a symbol of royal power, was a focal point for revolutionary activity.

The Oath of the Tennis Court marked the birth of constitutional politics in France.

The revolution shifted power from divine right to the people, as represented in art and political discourse.

Aristocrats used art to demonstrate their intellectual superiority and social status.

Religious art served a deeply immersive and spiritual purpose for the majority of Parisians.

The attack on the Barrier de la Conference in 1789 symbolized the fall of royalist power.

The storming of the Bastille was a significant act of iconoclasm, turning a symbol of despotism into a symbol of freedom.

The decapitated statue of Louis XV was repurposed by revolutionaries as a symbol of the people's sovereignty.

The destruction of religious symbols and the transformation of churches into temples of reason represented a comprehensive attack on the Church.

The radical changes during the French Revolution, including the reimagining of public spaces and symbols, were not without controversy and resistance.

The fall of Robespierre and the end of the radical phase of the revolution led to a decline in iconoclastic activities.

Napoleon's rise to power and the subsequent fall in 1815 demonstrated the ongoing struggle for control over symbols of power in Paris.

The French Revolution shows that those who control our symbolic world can never take their power for granted as symbols can be subverted by the people.

Transcripts

[Music]

i'm richard clay

i'm an art historian i don't just study

the creation of art i study its

destruction

in many ways i study the history of art

from below

in this film i'm going to tell the story

of the french revolution

through the destruction of art buildings

and

symbols these are often used by those in

power

as weapons to enforce the status quo

a revolution the destruction and

transformation of art and symbols

is a way to turn the tables it's called

iconoclasm the inside story of great

revolutions

can be uncovered through the smashed

altered

and reshaped art of the past

this is a story about art it's a story

about symbols it's a story about the

power of a monarchy the power of the

church the power of aristocracy

were the french revolutionaries just a

mob why were their governments so afraid

of them

this is the history of art this is a

story about the breaking

of images it's a story of the city being

transformed through destruction

arguably the birth of the modern world

the french revolution of 1789 changed

the world

inspired by the enlightenment notions of

liberty

equality and brotherhood the people of

france tall control of their destiny

from the king

nobility in church giving birth to a new

way

for seeing the world around us the

revolution

was a war whose battlefield was the

visual world

where the symbols of royal religious and

aristocratic power

had long controlled people's lives

revolutionaries

took these symbols and they destroyed

them creating

a new political order the word vandalism

was invented to describe them

but i don't think that they were

mindless barbarians

this battle over who controlled paris

began 24 kilometers outside the city

here in versailles begun in 1632

king louie's forebears expanded the

palace of versailles to boast an

astonishing 750 rooms

with extravagant gardens covering 800

hectares

this building was the ultimate

expression

of french royal power vessel is

famous for being an extravagant piece of

architecture with beautiful art

that's all true but it's also the heart

of ancient regime government

the king's apartments are a tiny

fraction of this vast palace

the rest of it it's administration as

well as servants of course

and that's the important thing for the

revolution this

is where government is done this is the

place to come

to get decisions made

for all its gold leaf i'm not here to

visit the palace of versailles

because the french revolution

effectively began

nearby in this unassuming back street

at the royal tennis courts

i've genuinely studied the revolution

for almost half my life

i've never been in this space before

it's amazing this is the truth

this is probably for me at least the

most

important place in recent french history

in 1789 the french world of politics was

in turmoil

divided into three groups called estates

the church at the top nobility in the

middle

and everybody else at the bottom the

french people were hungry

and angry and taxed heavily by a

cash-strapped elite

france is effectively bankrupt they keep

losing wars it's an expensive business

so the king says i rule by divine right

i request that representatives of the

three

estates that make up french society come

to their side

and help me find a way of getting my

accounts in order the third estate

and its champions in the press start to

say

well with a vast majority of the french

people

surely we should have more

representatives than everybody else

and when they tried to gather the king

refused

to let them meet in the allotted space

and found the doors log

so they came to the tennis court and

they swore

an oath they swore that they would sit

in perpetuity

until a constitution was written for

france

this is the moment when constitutional

politics

is born exactly david's painting of the

tennis court

it seems to be such a scene of

consensus all these arms thrusting

to the center towards baye who's

leading this oath but it isn't entirely

a scene of consensus

we've got a figure in the bottom right

hand corner

he sits gesturing firmly holding his

arms to his chest he is not going to

raise his arm

and swear this oath it's too big

robspierre stands clutching his chest

he's realizing the enormity of the

moment

he's not a renowned figure yet but as we

all know

he certainly will gain a reputation

and in the very center just at the feet

of bailly there's siez who's

such a key writer in the run-up to this

event and he sits

as if in the eye of the storm totally

still as if contemplating

what his writing is unleashed

this is the birth of modern france

the world has been turned upside down

it's no longer about the divine right of

kings

it's about power sovereignty emanating

from below it's the power of the people

[Music]

for the first time in their history the

people had a representative

government

[Music]

the king his nobles and the church were

losing their control

over the people's lives and the world

around them

a symbolic world that daily demonstrated

the power of king

church and aristocracy for aristocrats

art was primarily an intellectual

experience

perhaps the first thing they'd observe

on approaching this painting

would be oh look at this masterly

final touch of the painter that brings

the surface of the painting to life

look at this astonishing fold in this

fabric

described with a single brush stroke or

the spontaneity of the artist and his

genius

this is an aesthetic object it's also

an object that tells a moral story

this is a young girl looking boldly at

the viewer

with a bird on her finger but in the

history of art

this elite would know a bird in a cage

is virginity a bird that's escaped a

cage

is lost virginity this is a girl who's

confident

about her sexual virtue holds a bird on

a finger

there is an element of morality for the

viewer to discuss

but perhaps most importantly for them

it's a fabulous

painting it has aesthetic value

with their extensive education the

french aristocracy and middle classes

enjoyed nothing better than showing off

their knowledge over a snapshot of

mythical life

the racier the better this is a

historical painting

the subject diana goddess of hunting

at her bath a fellow called action

a mythical peeping tom is watching her

from the bushes

and she sees him and she turns him into

a stag

and it has him hunted down it's a

warning

to the voyeur that kind of

interpretation of this object was only

really open to those people who had

a vast knowledge of antiquity and of

mythology

highly educated highly educated and a

tiny elite

particularly made up of an aristocracy

who weren't

allowed to work for a living who lived

the kind of

leisured life we see depicted here who

used their knowledge of the past

to mark their social distinction and

justify their role

in society but in a way isn't this

rather like the way that we think about

art today too

that we go to the louvre and we can

demonstrate our knowledge of aesthetics

and we cue to see the mona lisa to be

able to say we've seen something of

historical value

the fact that we today share this way of

looking at art as a cerebral adventure

suggests we've forgotten how powerful

and controlling

art could be for the people of france in

1789

for the majority of parisians through

religion

art had a power to literally change

their worlds

here santa genevieve on her knees

beseeches the virgin mary to ask god to

intercede

and save people suffering because of

drought

every religious image has this potential

not just to save your soul

but also to help address the challenges

of existence for most people religious

art

was an immersive and very real

experience

that helped them elevate their minds to

god

whose power could change the world this

painting from the 18th century shows

this was a kind of 18th century

sculptural

installation these women aren't here

to contemplate the brilliance of this

sculptural work

they're not interested in aesthetics nor

in

history these women are here in the hope

that christ and god will help them in

their day-to-day struggles

deidoro the great philosopher of the

18th century

said that he thought that this chapel

was theatrical he thought

it was dangerous that its immersive

environment encouraged the poor

particularly

but people in general to suspend their

disbelief

just as if they were at a theater

it's precisely this fear

of the role that images can play in

people's lives

that leads them to become such contested

objects during the revolution

it was during the very first crisis of

the french revolution

that art was used as a weapon in the

struggle between those with power

and those without

with the assembly threatening the power

of the king

rumors had spread that royalist troops

were gathering

outside paris the people were furious

their target was a fortified gateway

into paris where

astronomic customs duties were raised on

imports into the city

known as the barrier de la confronts it

no longer exists

to today it was a hated building loaded

with economic and political significance

the 12th of july 1789 the parisians were

walking out of paris

and they were walking out of paris to

the barrier de la conference on the

route to their side they wanted to get

to their side they wanted to see the

king

but when they get there they stop and

what they do

is they attack the barrier de la

conference which was just at this

site but really interestingly this

mob of vandals this ignorant bunch of

barbarians

had turned up with stone masons and

their tools

this sounds like they might have had a

plan next to the barrier

there were statues one of those statues

a female figure

has a shield on the shield of the fleur

de lis the fleur-de-lis are the symbols

of royal france

this is as far as the crowd are

concerned our symbol

of royal front the stonemasons are there

because they have a plan their plan is

to decapitate the statue

and that is precisely what they do

many historians of the revolution excite

this as the first example

of mindless mobs committing acts of

wanton vandalism

i disagree

[Music]

this moment of unrest of violence

although nobody's wounded but violence

against property

isn't meaningless it's meaningful

this statue at the gates of paris in

1789

says to anybody who's entering paris

from their side

that royalist france is like a body

politic

without a head this powerful

symbol is not the product

of the behavior of ignorant vandals

dr guillo at the sorbonne has been

looking at what made the revolutionaries

tick

were they the violent mob of popular

myth

these popular protests these in some

cases

armed protests are these the protests of

mobs a lot of these protesters want to

avoid violence not because they are

peaceful people but they knew that the

royal dragoons can stop this protest by

violence so

we can say that it is a mob because

these protesters are not influenced by

their only their emotions

their passions their irrational

behaviors but they have

what is quite new is that these

pedestrians

act um in a very modern

way what makes these protests of july

1789

so strikingly modern because they are

influenced by other revolutions of the

18th century i mean by the american

revolution but

also about by the european revolution

and they perfectly knew uh what is what

freedom means what equality means so

it's not a mod it's a it's a political

protest

deep within the archives of the

bibliotech nacional

prince from the period used the

symbolism of the headless royal statue

to show us the reality of the situation

and this decapitated statue

seems to me is a key part of the

composition the king no longer

is just the simple head of state that he

once was

now something new has to emerge a member

of the people

standing where the head was

they are now sovereign even today

transforming symbols of power through

modification

and destruction is still a provocative

form of protest

deep under the streets of paris of the

remains of perhaps

the greatest act of iconoclasm of the

whole french revolution

these stones are all that remains today

of the huge royal jail the bastille

the ultimate symbol of royal despotism

but the revolutionaries turned it from a

symbol of cruelty

into an emblem of freedom

in the days before the storming of the

bastille parisians were

to say the least agitated

they'd been concerned that the city was

surrounded by royal troops and it was

we get parisians starting to arm

themselves

and the reason this storm the bastille

is dealers parisians

are furious they want to take over the

prison because they want the guns and

the gunpowder that they believe are in

there

that's why they march on this symbol but

it

is also incredibly symbolically

significant

it is the symbol of despotism

[Music]

after a day-long siege the bastille's

defenders were overwhelmed

soon the situation turned ugly the

prison governor

was decapitated by the angry crowd

and his head stuck on a pike

the people who stormed the bastille

begin to demolish it

this incredibly powerful symbol of royal

despotism

is being raised to the ground brick by

brick

by the people themselves this is a place

de la bastille

the greatest biggest emptiest space

probably left by a

act of iconoclasm in paris

for me the siege of the bastille led to

one of the great

symbolic transformations

[Music]

it lies here in a storehouse in a cruel

100 kilometers from paris

straight after the fall of the bastille

in july 1789

the communal new revolutionary

government of paris

we're hearing that the people of paris

had started to dismantle the bastille

the commune decided they needed to take

action they needed to show

that the violence was over that they

were in control

of space and that included all acts of

violence against

powerful symbols the official

responsible for the dismantling of the

bastille

pierre francois paluar understood the

powerful messages communicated by

symbols he produced dozens of models of

the building

and sent them to all 83 departments of

france

now the bastille no longer symbolized

the despotic power of royalty

as a result this kind of plaster model

ended up being circulated around france

by palwa

in his entrepreneurial mode so that

groups of french people

could celebrate this act of

iconoclasm others would call it

vandalism

i wouldn't and they could march together

in revolutionary festivals perhaps on

bastille day it's just such a

beautifully detailed piece of work

the windows two of them still bear

bars it makes me wonder whether palois

and his team are actually using metal

from the bastille

certainly much of the metal that was

salvaged from the site was being cast

into souvenirs

and sold whether or not it's from the

bastille every single set of windows

bears the signs of having had bars as a

really prominent reminder of what a

fortress prison this really was

this isn't just an incredibly detailed

model of the bastille it's a message

that's being sent to the departable of

france that the storming of the bastille

wasn't just the efforts of the parisians

it was an effort made by the nation on

behalf

of the whole nation

the storming of the bastille frightened

the new parisian government

they needed to take control of the

situation

and they needed money their eyes

turned to the wealth of the churches of

paris

in what was to be the first act of

officially sponsored

iconoclasm the clergy of sans and peace

were incredibly well connected

they knew the law was going to change

and that silverware would be demanded

from them

in october 1789 so they

gave a lot of it away in late september

the church leaders beseeched the

revolutionaries

to spare their massive silver statue

of mary this statue is particularly

symbolic because it was made

from the old silver that had been given

to the clergy

by parishioners melted down to create

this

incredible sculpture by bouchard on but

as the revolution progressed

it became clear that the statue is going

to have to be melted down

that a request made by a pamphleteer in

the name of the virgin mary

that it should be used for charitable

purposes to help the nation

was going to have to be met

[Music]

and it wouldn't stop there as the

revolution had progressed

often beyond the control of the

authorities so the calls for ever more

radical iconoclasm

would increase

[Music]

paris is a city of revolution

they've had five in total since the

bastille was stormed

like the revolution of 1789 the

anti-capitalist riots of 1968

engulfed most of the city known as the

swasson

the young radicals who manned the

barricades are still around

perhaps one of their number aberdam

can give me an insight into how a

revolution acquires

a life of its own the first time i was

involved

in a violent demonstration was at that

time when they saw them acting like

like a mob they were using those wooden

clips

and hitting people that way

on the middle of the street there were

many people there

and they were hitting as heavily as they

could i was astonished

i was on the side i was not involved at

the time

two hours later i was definitely so

the people here are beginning to act

as a group asking the liberty

of their streaks and movement did you

have a sense of the fact that you were

part of a

tradition a legacy oh yes we do

those days in may when we built

barricades in the upper

latin district there and people

thought they were in a tradition raising

those barricades

search really set me thinking about

what it was like on the 12th of july or

the 14th of july

and i started to get a sense of how what

starts as

a small group of protesters can rapidly

expand

into a entire society in rebellion

it's an astonishing frontline inside

like the uprising of 1968 revolutionary

further

spread throughout the city in 1789

the old world of church and aristocracy

was now

officially under attack and the marks of

this destruction

of the old world are still embedded in

the walls of the city today

there's nothing more familiar in cities

than their walls

but it's odd how quickly the familia can

become strange

latin graffiti on the wall of a 17th

century church

omnia communia everything belongs to all

then iron bars sticking out of the wall

rusted what was hung from these bars

they looked like

legs and then a horizontal piece of

concrete above this was a crucifix this

was pulled down during

de-christianization

in the french revolution 1793 or

iv and then empty walls

a period of peace perhaps in paris

and a door with a triangle on top with

no religious sign

liberty equality fraternity

across paris teams of sculptors began

removing the symbols

of the hated oppressors of the ancient

regime

a damaged work of art or even an empty

space

above a doorway speaks volumes about the

power struggle

at the heart of the revolution a door

with roundels

chipped out what was here

fleur-de-lis all the way

up the door both sides of the door

two roundels with nothing in them

what was there royal signs religious

signs

signs of feudalism two harmless

armless cherubs holding nothing

why why were their arms chipped off

this single wall of a single church in

paris

tells a story of a succession of

revolutionary conflicts

this wall also tells a story

of contemporary struggle

omnia communion everything belongs to

all

the walls speak we just have to listen

and look the aristocrats

and their coats of arms that used to

plaster paris were also

in the firing line so in august 1789 the

national assembly had just abolished

feudalism

very sudden very total all of the signs

of feudalism that were all over paris

suddenly looked rather out of place and

it wasn't particularly good to be an

aristocrat

with your emblems on the outside of your

town house

hence at a place like this now the

bibliotheque history de la ville de

paris

it used to be the house of the le mano

family and here we've got a black inlay

that's been placed on later because what

would have happened is the la mwanyon

family plastered over their coat of arms

because they were no longer aristocrats

possibly hoping

that one day this abolition of the

aristocracy

would be revoked

as a revolution progressed the temporary

solution of just plastering over the

coats of arms of aristocrats

was no longer really working they'd been

doing that work but now they were

starting to emigrate

the revolutionary authorities needed a

more permanent solution

and this solution was simply to chip out

the coats of arms above the town houses

doorways like this example incredibly

elaborate

aristocratic frontispiece but with a

great

big empty space in the middle of it all

record of the existence of these

families over generations in paris

was being completely erased

[Music]

only months into the revolution and the

streets and buildings of paris

had changed significantly but in the

summer of 1789

bread was still too expensive and people

were hungry

descent spread on the streets of paris

[Music]

in october 1789 paris was hungry

paris was also angry this combination of

hunger and anger

leads to a kind of protest movement that

grows

and in due course 5th of october several

thousand parisians end up marching out

to versailles

and they camp here and the next day

when they head back to paris they head

back with the royal family

the center of government has moved from

versailles

back to paris

with the royals safely in the heart of

paris the people

could keep their eyes on the king

now in paris king louis kept his head

down

endorsing revolutionary redistribution

of church wealth

but louis was no fool he knew his family

was in danger they made a faithful

decision

to try and escape to marie antoinette's

homeland austria

in the summer of 1791 but they were

captured

at the austrian border the family was

brought back to paris

in very real danger

this is the moment on the 26th of july

1791

when the royal family are brought back

to paris having tried to escape to

varene

and the people of paris line the streets

as they always would for a royal entry

into the city

but this time they don't cheer this time

they stand in silence and in many places

they actually stand with their backs to

the royal family's carriage

this printmaker's chosen an amazing

moment which is the moment

when louis the 16th comes past the

statue

to louis the 15th on the way into the

tweelery palace

and there are young boys who have

clambered up

onto the statue of louis xv this much

detested king

and they're blindfolding the statue as

if to say

even louis xv

wouldn't want to see this awful scene

of a cowardly king who's abandoned his

people

and abandoned the revolution this was a

kind of iconoclasm the revolutionaries

used the statue of louis xv as a weapon

of protest

against the traitorous king

to find out what they were really trying

to achieve

who better to speak to than a modern-day

so-called

vandal

what's the link between us and the

revolution what are we doing here why

are you wrecking your vandals you call

yourself handles he's wearing a t-shirt

that says vandal on it

and i write about vandalism during the

french revolution

but i'm saying these people weren't

vandals this wasn't vandalism

they're not blind ignorant barbarians

they're incredibly smart people and they

understand that monuments in public

space are being

used to try and control them so

they pull [ __ ] on their heads or write

graffiti on it

okay so why are you a graffiti artist

this whole project

was the idea of demonstrating that we're

not vandals but we're truly artists

i like it

in 2010 parisian graffiti artist so what

led a 40-strong team that covered the

walls of a huge abandoned supermarket

with art what was the driving force

behind this incredible

installation of graffiti when i was 16

years old i was angry at the world i

wanted to burn

and uh graffiti was a way for me to get

out to the world you know i had all the

reasons in the world to do it we think

we're right to do it and in a lot of

places we are right to do it

what fascinated us is that this place

has been heavily squatted

gypsy families and uh our government

spent a month and a half leading a war

on gypsies dismantling

gypsy camps because they cannot do

anything about the economy

so they were giving a hard time to the

most fragile population in this country

it's really sophisticated art it's

really thought provoking

i'm just wondering whether you've got a

response

where anyone's calling it vandalism

still i'll tell you this

the whole idea was to make a statement

that they call us vandals but that's not

what we are you know we are

artists i mean i'm clear about that at

this age

i might have been clear about it at 20

years old but now i am

but uh this is what the project is

for me the beauty of this graffiti is

that so what and friends

we're using a controversial building as

a vehicle for protest

not what i would call vandalism

this is incredibly relevant to what else

we've been looking at we've been looking

at how in the

18th century people would transform

physically transform a sculpture but

they'd also

talk about it in a different way so you

can take a symbol

and transform it my dear vandal exactly

exactly for vandal

i'm delighted to have met a pair of

vandal all right

pleased to meet you i don't think

oregano and barbarian

so what what an astonishing name so what

what i love about so what is that this

incredibly

avant-garde graph artist sees this

historical tradition

and this historical tradition is like

i don't know kind of part of the dna

of the culture of paris this culture of

resistance

this culture of contestation that

just because you can afford to build the

massive monument

like the eiffel tower that doesn't mean

that you're actually in control

anyone who can hold a pen a spray can

they have power too the parisian ability

to take a symbol

like the statue of louis xv and turn it

into a witty

and cutting attack on a traitorous king

is alive and well

in the guise of so what in the summer of

1792

at a public appearance revolutionaries

forced the shamed louis xvi

to wear a red revolutionary bonnet

now it wasn't just royal statues that

were being transformed and used for

mockery

it was the king's own body a man

who'd once claimed to rule by divine

right

is now dangerously close to becoming

an all-too-human target

on the 11th of july 1792 the national

assembly declared the country to be in

danger from austrian invasion

led by the radicals of the commune the

people

went after the king in the tuilery

palace

on the 10th of august 1792 parisians

accompanied by national guards from all

of the sections of paris

and by marseilles troops who have

marched all the way from marseille

to protect paris from austrian invasion

stormed up the tui palace gardens

halfway down they faltered and ten

wonder americorps a woman

stood up and led the charge the men

shamed by this leadership

followed her into a hail of musket fire

from swiss guard

despite the presence of close to a

thousand swiss mercenaries the crowd won

the day

by the end of that day swiss guards

bodies

littered the palace gardens and the

entirety of the palace

almost to a man they were massacred the

people once they got into the louvre

found the royal family cowering in the

meeting room of the national assembly

a debate opened up and the assembly

managed to calm down

the invaders to a point where they were

dispersing but the next day it became

clear that the

conclusion of the national assembly was

they would simply suspend the monarchy

to the people of paris this was not

going to be good enough

what would happen the next day was the

statues of kings would begin

to topple

before the revolution royal power was

asserted through statues of kings

it was backed up by the threat of

violence

for these statues of kings these are

very specific

representations of the monarch he's

enormous

he's herculean he's in armor

he carries a martial batman tiny little

fleur-de-lis

all the way along it he's a military

leader

behind the power of the king is the

power

to exert violence on his people if

necessary

this is really about the power of the

monarchy

[Music]

even today you can find examples of the

struggle to control the images around us

on a column in the center of the city

you can find a symbol of napoleonic

power

an eagle just below the modern day

artist

invader has added one of his creations

weird thing is this witty clever quite

sympathetic intervention in the public

space

is illegal but that monstrosity

totally out of keeping with the city

paris sponsored by

volkswagen isn't illegal so who does

own the right to make meaning in public

space with symbols

the space invader artist or global

corporations

and on the 11th of august 1789 it wasn't

images of corporate power that got

attacked but the detested royal statue

of the king's grandfather louis xv

to actually topple a statue is no mean

fleet

anybody who's seen the footage of the

statue of saddam hussein

being brought down by american marines

during the gulf war

will understand the scale of the task

there

it took an armored car several attempts

to get the statue to the ground so the

parisians

are engaging in a complex engineering

task when they

finally get the statue onto the floor

they then begin to break it up

and actually that's an important gesture

because when the national assembly give

the official go ahead for this kind of

unlicensed iconoclasm

a couple of days later they say the

debris

should be taken to the forge melted down

to create cannons to fire on the armies

of kings this is a material

transformation of the statue

the statue itself is going to become a

series of powerful

military symbols cannons

[Music]

even the much loved henry cap was under

threat of destruction

come mid august 1792 statues of kings

were toppling across the city

but the statue of honorary cats still

sitting in the center of the pond north

parisians are trying to decide what

they're to do with this much love statue

of this much-loved king

were they to pull down even the good

king henry

who they constructed as being a

sympathiser of the revolution

in the end they decided they would the

debris toppled

mercier said it turns out it wasn't

solid bronze after all they couldn't

melt it down to form cannons

the statue is as hollow as the power of

kings of course

you might be wondering why the statue is

still here

this is an inferior copy it's put up

later by royalists after a kind of

counter-revolution how very parisian

the radical government of paris the

commune becomes increasingly influential

the monarchy was abolished from now on

members of the national assembly like

robspierre

were struggling to limit the commune's

power

all royal symbols were at risk even

those on the front of paris's cathedral

not hadam the facade of notre dame

has been restored since but in 1793 the

statues of kings were annoying radicals

in the government of paris

[Music]

early september 1793 the controversy

over the statues of kings at notre dame

was reaching a boiling point

on the 5th of september the national

convention had declared

terror to be the order of the day these

were the original terrorists

self-proclaimed

meanwhile at notre dame the radical

sexionaires are saying why have we got

these colossal statues of king still

sitting on front of notre dame dojon

francois dojon

as stonemason and his team come down to

knock her down by order of the

authorities and erect an enormous

scaffold

and they work their way along these

statues of kings

his team got to work surgically chipping

off the crowns and royal symbolism like

fleur de lis

from the statues but this wasn't enough

they had to come down the noose is

pulled around

the neck of the statue and the statue is

pulled down

and it crashes onto the pavement and

this is the major concern in the

aftermath of each of these falling from

that height

for the revolutionary authorities we've

broken the pavement

the debris piled up beside notre dame

where a contemporary diarist noticed it

was being used as a toilet

and it stanked a high heaven he says

the sight of these objects the smell of

these objects is disgusting

but it's not as awful as the smell of

the past that they represent

in a way i think he's playing with

carnival-esque notions for the role of

[ __ ]

in culture the funny thing about [ __ ] is

whether you're a soldier a member of the

people or you're a king

you're all [ __ ] but not all

revolutionaries

thought the statues were worthless the

heads were rescued and

unofficially preserved for the future

the marks on them hold clues to what the

revolutionaries were trying

to achieve in 1793 things haven't been

looking too good for the statues

kings but the amazing thing is that in

1977

when building work starts on a bank in

the basement

discovered wrapped in plaster are these

remains

of the heads of the statues of kings

this was a deliberate act of

preservation after all these are being

condemned

as being grotesque gothics which is to

say

a very bad taste

what we see are some of the traces of

the act

of breaking

so all of these heads are missing their

noses now

this seems too incredible a coincidence

did they all

fall flat on their faces from the

gallery when they hit the party outside

of notre dame

i don't think so clues as to what was

going on

can be found in recent history too the

cutting out of the faces

on the images of despots by

revolutionaries like this defacing of

the posters of gaddafi

powerful political acts were they

actively defaced afterwards

perhaps as they're lying beside notre

dame being used as a public toilet

that actually seems plausible to me but

is this an act of vandalism i'm not so

sure

1793 saw more than the destruction of

statues

radicals like robs pierre within the

national assembly

introduced a policy of terror the arrest

and execution of those unfaithful to the

revolution

here we are back on the blaster concord

the kind of beating heart of the terror

in paris the beating heart as in the

place where all the beating hearts were

stopped

the real beating house probably the

revolutionary tribunals which are

sending people to the guillotine

sometimes with just 24 hours notice

but the guillotine was mounted here this

the irony

of having just across the river nowadays

the assembly nacional

is pretty significant but this square

saw an awful lot of bloodshed

the famous mr guillotine

[Applause]

[Music]

a machine proposed to the assembly

nacional

for the punishment of criminals by

mission

guillotine i think we all know how it

works

it's quick it's humane it's enlightened

and it used to sit in the place louis

cows finally in early 1793

after being found guilty of treason

against france

the king was executed the statue

of louis the 15th had been toppled and

it's directly opposite

the empty pedestal that louis the 16th

is executed on the 21st of january 1793

and his head held up

with the destruction of the royals the

radicals within the government

moved on to the other great power the

church

this attack on the church known as

de-christianization

would engulf the most cherished

religious spaces of paris

this comprehensive attack on christian

france began

here at the great cathedral of notre

dame

on the 10th of november 1793 radicals

from the commune decide to challenge the

authority

of god

in the autumn of 1793 a visit to notre

dame could have come in and happened

upon

the first ever festival of reason and

then coming to the crossing of the nave

they might have seen a mountain

and on it an actress an actress in a

church

who when she died wouldn't even be

worthy of being buried in church grounds

because she was regarded as being

tantamount to a prostitute and this

actress

was playing the role of the deity of

reason

in a ceremony that was a festival of

reason

this is an extraordinary moment in the

history of this church

its first day in a new life not as a

church

but as a temple of reason

notre dame wasn't alone across paris

the great churches ceased to be

christian

and they became temples of reason

central to their new status

was a state-sponsored campaign the

wholesale

removal alteration or destruction

of religious symbols

[Music]

on the 5th of september 1793 the section

finally got to hold its first festival

of reason

probably all of these chapels to the

side were

sealed off with drapery so you couldn't

see the imagery

in the pulpit that a local sex jonair

serra

stands and says to his audience

so if this god exists why doesn't he

strike me down

right now with a bolt of thunder and

then he

gazed pregnantly at the ceiling for a

moment

and says there you go no

thunder he doesn't exist

at the end of this ceremony the whole of

the section take

two of the wooden statues and they

process

them to a local square where they burn

them

[Music]

with god banished next to go were the

symbols and art

the sculptor he brought down the kings

at notre dame

dejean worked on the 240 foot high

towers of south peace what was so

important

that it meant risking life and limb

franco dojon's time at central peace

eight weeks

involved making hundreds of changes to

the symbolism of the church

but this worker right outside is the

first thing that revolutionaries

visiting the space would have seen

right over the main door begins with

this vast relief

of faith here faith used to hold a

chalice

but instead now she holds a flaming

torch

that symbolizes the enlightenment that

the visitor is going to

receive inside the little cherub beside

her

once held a cross now the chair of

holding said

bashki's fashion is that symbol of roman

unity also roman law and order that

eventually becomes the symbol

that gives the name to fascists

in this that's released the cherub to

the left

this time the cross has been turned into

a sword

a kind of military symbol surely

so the real work of dojon began once he

got inside the church

all of these trophies that line the nave

high up that are now blank re-sculpted

by dojo

working at this vast height on

scaffolding that his team had brought to

the church

and assembled there but working on the

high ceiling

was just the beginning beaujon and his

team

had to go even higher

this graffiti here we're on the way to

the chapel of the students is it samsung

[ __ ] increased

great it's getting narrower

1967 somebody last came up here

we're running out of graffiti it's as if

people lose the will

to right as they get to this altitude

perhaps i'm the only person who's afraid

of heights

above the nave the interior of the

church is covered in graffiti

i just can't resist looking for a

hastily scrawled

dojo was here

who are these men who took the time to

carve their names

into this wall of this height

is that a revolutionary 1808

1859 1830

the year of a revolution

dojon didn't leave his signature behind

it seams

at a height of about 200 feet i reached

the bells

even these didn't escape the revolution

wow the bells they're all new

during the revolution they were all

pulled down all but one of them

to turn them into thousands and

thousands of coins each bearing

the symbol of the republic for

distribution around the country

that's transformation of symbols

[Music]

at 240 feet in the air i can get a sense

of the lengths dojo and his team were

going to

in their roles as revolutionary

iconoclasts

[Music]

sadojon in this report for the work he

did at samsung peace

said i was working at a really

prodigious height

and the weather was appalling and this

is kind of why

he charged so much now i'm up here i

kind of understand what he means and his

team

must have been hanging off here or with

ropes to chip out

the church's signs that are just beneath

where i'm standing on this tower

they must have been working in a similar

way on the floor down where the bells

are

going outside of the safety of the walls

to alter the statues yeah they were

charging a lot of money

but even the taking account for

inflation as they were

i kind of think they probably deserve

the danger money

dojo might have been an entrepreneur but

he was clearly a committed revolutionary

between 1793 and 1794

like other teams of masons he

transformed the churches across

paris but the deeply ingrained

catholicism of the french people

was hard to wipe out rospierre

one of the architects of the terror

realized that the revolutionary assembly

had allowed the cult of reason to go too

far

in 1794 after executing those

responsible

he launched a new cult with a new god

[Music]

on the 8th of june 1794 parisians were

invited to an enormous festival for a

new cult

who was the cult of the supreme being

and this festival is to

celebrate it they get to see this

incredible spectacle

this enormous mountain built on the

champton mars

and then a massive column which is

probably made of papio mache

and on top of it an enormous figure of

hercules

symbolizing the power of the people yet

within just six weeks this cult

was in its last throws within six weeks

robs pierre himself had been arrested

by the very members of the convention

who have processed with him

the montagne members who were

increasingly worried

that it was chop chop chop for them

as government guillotined them

they turned on ross pierre arrested him

and on the 28th of july 1794

robspierre realizing he was cornered

tried to shoot himself

simply blowing off his jaw 24 hours

later

he was dead and the cult of the supreme

being

was dead with him

after ross pierre's death the

revolutionary cult

of the supreme being fell away the

people

were eager for an end to such radicalism

as the assembly fought for control in

the aftermath of robs pierre's death

an upwardly mobile young general took

control of power for himself

his name was napoleon but his

coup didn't lead to democracy inequality

for all

by 1815 napoleon himself had fallen from

power

the royals had returned rebuilding the

statue of

good old honorary cat on the pond nerf

built from the recycled bronze of a

statue of one of napoleon's favorite

generals

it just goes to show the battle over who

controls these symbols of power on the

streets of paris

has never really ended

just like parisians of the french

revolution from the moment that we step

outside of our doors we're in a world of

images and symbols that

demand our attention and even our

loyalty

but we have to realize that these

symbols shape our world

and the way that we understand it and

imagine it

the french revolution shows us that

those who control our symbolic world

can never take their power for granted

there's always somebody

who's willing to scroll on a symbol to

pull it down

to smash it up to smear it with [ __ ] to

set it on fire

or to make subtle and creative changes

to it

that create a new symbol as picasso

taught us the act of creation is always

first and foremost an act of destruction

catch up with lucy wesley's brand new

series the first georgians that's

available now on bbc iplayer

and there's acclaimed bbc drama here on

bbc4 tomorrow

and one of hollywood's greatest love

stories tempests

trysts and tantrums in burton and taylor

at nine