Liberty (right) enthroned on the ruins of the bastile, receives the acclamations of the french people who are headed by 'a repentant monarch': louis xvi, in royal robes, kneels on one knee at her feet, holding up to her his crown. A broken axe lies on the ground before him. Liberty, who is irradiated, holds the cap of 'libertas' on her staff; she extends her right hand graciously to louis, saying:
"receive from liberty your crown again!
and he that wears the crown immortally
long guard it yours. "
she is 'the goddess of the noble mind'. Behind the king walk together 'orleans, and necker', inscribed respectively 'honor', '& virtue'. The latter holds out as offerings to liberty a purse and a flaming heart. Orléans holds out his sword and a chain to which are attached five prisoners who walk behind him. The first is a stout woman wearing a crown or tiara to which is attached a veil. She advances defiantly, her right fist clenched, putting to her mouth a bottle of 'rhenish'; she is 'messalina', a travesty of marie antoinette. Behind her, terrorstruck, walk two men with coins dropping from their over-full pockets followed by two women weeping, one fat with a pouch bulging with coins, the other thin. These four, whose wrists like that of 'messalina' are chained, are 'pests of france & britain german-toad-eaters - and - german counsellors'. Behind them marches 'la fayette, general of a free people'; he holds in both hands a banner with a fleur-de-lys device inscribed 'libertas'. Behind and on the extreme left march serried ranks of the 'national guard' carrying muskets with fixed bayonets. 'they are free citizens or extirpators of tyranny'. In the background, behind the procession, an immense crowd is indicated; they wave their arms and their hats in wild enthusiasm. 3 august 1789
etching. Date: 1789. Dimensions: Height: 240 mm; Width: 607 mm. Medium: paper. Depicted People: Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette. Collection: British Museum. The Offering to Liberty (BM 1868,0808.5883)
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