Europe
Fraternity
Using a woman to represent "Fraternity" seems ironic at best, although theoretically the term might mean the community of humanity. In actuality, when the revolutionaries considered "community," they certainly thought of men far more than women.
National Assembly Relinquishes All Privileges
This image, part of a series produced to show the most important events of the Revolution, focuses on 4 and 5 August 1789, when the system of privileges came to an end. This legal structure, characteristic of the old regime, guaranteed different rights for different people.
Transportation of Voltaire to the French Panthéon, 8 July 1792
Although Voltaire’s contribution to the Revolution has been much debated, the revolutionaries themselves had absolutely no doubt of his significance. After 1789 he was much in vogue, in that his plays were often performed and other artists lionized him in various ways.
Arrest of Louis Capet at Varennes, June 22, 1791
This print shows an angry crowd of fervent revolutionaries breaking down doors to arrest the King.
Army of Jugs
This color drawing, produced in 1793 at the request of the Committee of Public Safety and then published as an engraving, caricatures the British army and its king, George III, as incompetent, who, despite fine uniforms, cannot defeat shoddily clad, yet energetic sans–culottes (on the left), who
Aristocratic Occupations
The second image, a color drawing by the popular English caricaturist James Gillray in 1805 during the Empire, takes a different view of the Directory, suggesting that it is a time of moral decadence and self–aggrandizement.
An Ordinary Guillotine
The guillotine was first introduced as a humane, efficient, and above all modern form of execution in April 1792; during the radical phase of the Republic, it would become the symbol of the Terror. This engraving suggests the guillotine is providing "good support for liberty."
Hagia Sophia Floor Plan
This is an architectural drawing of the Hagia Sophia’s floor plan.
Hagia Sophia
This an image of the Hagia Sophia, the cathedral of the Byzantine Empire in Constantinople. It was built in the early 6th century by the Emperor Justinian and stands today, almost 1,500 years later, despite earthquakes, wars, and revolutions.
Analyzing Objects
The modules in Methods present case studies that demonstrate how scholars interpret different kinds of historical evidence in world history.