Parlementsleden van de Raad van Vijfhonderd vallen Napoleon aan tijdens zijn staatsgreep op 10 november 1799 in de Orangerie van Versaille

Here, Cornelis Brouwer captures Napoleon's coup in an etching. Notice the symbolic chaos: a sea of arms flailing, bodies lunging, the very air thick with political turmoil. Observe the Roman attire. These garments, intended to evoke the Republic, ironically signal its demise. This harks back to antiquity where the toga was a mark of civic duty, now twisted in a scene of discord. The raised hand, once a gesture of oratory power, now brandishes a dagger— a primal act eclipsing reason. In contrast, the rigid lines of the windowpanes behind offer a stark geometric order, against which the unbridled passions of the figures are thrown into sharp relief. Such scenes are perennial. The overthrow of power, the clash of order and chaos, replay across epochs, echoing in our collective memory. The intensity of this moment speaks to a deep, subconscious understanding of power's fragility and its violent disruptions.