Prise de la Bastille le 14 Juillet 1789 (The Storming of the Bastille on 14th July 1789)

Charles Thévenin

1760 – Paris – 1839

Etching. Sheet size: 43.5 x 60.9 cm. Annotated in brown ink by the artist: “Dessiné et gravé par C. Thévenin”. Le Blanc 1; Baudicour 1; De Vinck 1599; Exh. cat. Regency to Empire (1984) no. 107; Exh. cat. The Winds of the Revolution no. 39.

Superb, early proof impression of the first state, before the lettering. With margins around the border line up to the plate-mark.

The history and portrait painter Charles Thénevin probably witnessed the storming of the Bastille first-hand. This defining moment of the French Revolution became an important source of inspiration for him and he represented it in at least two paintings.

This, his only known etching, appears to have been inspired by a drawing made shortly after the event. Thévenin chose to depict the capture of the Marquis De Launay, governor of the prison, by the revolutionaries, who surround him menacingly. The dramatic character of the scene, which precedes the execution of the Marquis, is enhanced by bold shadows and a pictorial use of the etching medium, which make this a work of art in its own right rather than a slavish copy of the original.

As a proof impression, this most famous etching by a peintre-graveur of a French Revolutionary subject is extremely rare.

Bought within the art trade.