Exhibition labels & didactics - National Gallery of Victoria

ATELIER BASSET, Paris
France active 1790s
Revolutionary poster
Affiche révolutionnaire
1791–95
engraving, coloured relief print on joined sheets
Les Arts Décoratifs,
musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris
Purchased, 1948 inv. 35968
Under pressure from the Revolution’s
unfolding politics, decorative ornament went
through a major transformation. New emblems
were employed, affirming the civic values
that were to provide the basis for the new
Republic. Phrygian bonnets or caps (worn by
freed slaves in ancient Rome), lictors’ fasces,
the tricolour of red, white and blue, the set
square symbolising equality, the scales of
justice, military trophies: all these spoke
forcefully of the new ideals espoused by the
French nation.
© COPYRIGHT
This document remains the property of the National Gallery of Victoria and must be returned upon request. Reproduction in part or in whole is prohibited without written authorisation.
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