Cérémonie de l'inauguration de la colonne de juillet, 1840 1840

Charles François Daubigny made this print in 1840, depicting the ceremony for the inauguration of the July Column in Paris. The column itself, which you can see here draped with fabric, commemorates the Revolution of 1830. What is striking is the way that this image serves as a record of a carefully staged public event. The military presence, the architecture, and the crowds, all point to the importance of the event as an act of statecraft. We can also consider the role of the artist, Daubigny, in shaping the memory of this event. Was he a commissioned agent of the state, or did he have his own political motivations for representing this event? By consulting archives and publications from the period, historians can better understand the complex interplay between art, politics, and public memory in 19th-century France.