Achievement: Cogniet, Léon (Paris (75), August 29, 1794 (12 Fructidor An 2) - Paris (75), November 20, 1880) (Painter)
The flags
The flags
Production: 1830
Area: Painting
Technique(s): Canvas (oil paint)
Dimensions : H. 19.3 cm ; W. 24 cm
Inventory no.: PE.208
Cartel
Little inclined to picturesque detail, preferring the effectiveness of symbolism, Léon Cogniet uses these two complementary compositions to create an allegory of the three revolutions that led the French from the Ancien Régime to the short-lived Second Republic. Les Drapeaux, an allegory of the July Revolution of 1830, which brought about the abdication of Charles X and the beginning of a parliamentary monarchy, is undoubtedly one of the artist's most famous compositions, although we only know the definitive painting from Villain's lithograph, with the caption:
From darkness at last comes freedom
And pale shreds of the slave flag
And from the blue of the sky and the blood of our braves
The shining banner of our freedom is born
Above all, this sketch offers an allegory of the birth of the national flag, in a spirit of synthesis that becomes more conventional in the two 1848 Marianne (inv. 2016.13.1) also on display at the museum.
Provenance
Léon Cogniet Collection (1794-1880).
Léon Cogniet Collection (1794-1880).
Bequest from Catherine-Caroline Thévenin épouse Cogniet (1813-1892) and Marie-Anne-Rosalie Thévenin (1819-1892) to the Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Orléans, 1892.
School
France
Location
Museum of Fine Arts
1st mezzanine
Room: The salon under the July monarchy (1830-1848)