Revolutionary imagery

1. Using as evidence

6.  This sense of resentment was
furthered by the fact that the
Third Estate were the least
able to bear the tax burden –
the peasantry of theThird
Estate were 82% of the
population but owned only
30% of the land. This is
evident in a popular motif of
the pamphlet wars, the
‘piggyback’ image with the
peasant man literally carrying
the privileged orders.

7.  The calling of the Estates
General raised
expectations of reform
and optimism – an image
from 1789 attests to this
showing the three Estates in
a carriage setting off
purposely forVersailles in a
spirit of co operation.

8. KParis
 In 1789 Louis XVI had been
hailed as ‘liberator of the
French’ when he recognised
the National Assembly and
Paris Commune on July 17th.
However by 1791 this good
will had eroded as suspicions
grew as to the extent to
which the King supported the
reforms, with a common
image of the time showing him
as the two faced godJanus,
taking a different stance to a
NA deputy and a cleric.

9.  In 1789 Louis XVI had been
hailed as ‘liberator of the
French’ when he recognised
the National Assembly and
Paris Commune on July 17th.
However by 1791 this good
will had eroded as suspicions
grew as to the extent to
which the King supported the
reforms, with a common
image of the time showing him
as the two faced godJanus,
taking a different stance to a
NA deputy and a cleric

10. KParis

12. One of the most fashionable hairstyles of the eighteenth century, À la Belle Poule,
commemorated the victory of a French ship over an English ship in 1778 in the
AmericanWar of Independence.