Long Life to the Troops! 28 - 1830

Auguste Raffet created this lithograph titled "Long Life to the Troops!" sometime between 1804 and 1860. It captures a moment in French history ripe with revolutionary fervor. Raffet’s print depicts the troops amidst a crowd of Parisians. Etchings such as this were designed to sway public sentiment, and this image is no exception. Note the body language of the crowd, as regular citizens shake hands with the soldiers. What do you make of the children who look on from the left of the frame? Are they innocent bystanders, or are they learning what it means to be a patriotic citizen of France? Here, Raffet constructs a narrative of national unity, yet we might also ask, who is excluded from this vision? Whose voices are not amplified in this depiction of revolutionary brotherhood? As you consider these questions, reflect on the stories that this artwork tells and the silences it maintains.