French Democrats Surprizing the Royal Runaways
This print purports to show the moment when King Louis XVI of France, his wife Marie Antoinette, and the young Dauphin were suprised at an inn in the small town of Varennes while attempting to escape from Paris and reach Montmédy where approximately 10,000 loyalist troops awaited them. It was published just two days after word reached London of Louis' flight and subsequent capture.
© Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University
){kind=link}
Although hastily produced, even as conflicting (and ultimately false) reports were coming in of the murder of the royal family on their return to Paris, the print clearly demonstrates Gillray's sense of meaningful design. From the broom handle in the doorway to the saber pointed at Louis' chest, to the blunderbuss aimed at Marie Antoinette, to the musket and bayonet threatening the Dauphin, there is an overwhelming downward thrust from one side of the print to the other. The effect is to surround and enclose the royal family and to emphasize the imminent threat from the French democrats. In this print, the royal family is literally cornered.
The French democrats are strongly caricatured; the King and Queen much less so. But there is little likeness to contemporary portraits of Louis and Marie Antoinette in Gillray's representation. Indeed one could be forgiven for mistaking them for the Prince of Wales and Mrs. Fitzherbert. This may be an accident of Gillray's haste and his unfamiliarity with the portraiture of the French royal family. But it is consistent in general with his treatment of the revolution in France: there is almost always a sense that the same events that are happening in France could happen in Britain, that the balance of British freedom and order is fragile and could be easily overturned.
Sources and Reading
- Commentary from the British Museum on French Democrats Surprizing the Royal Runaways.
- "Louis XVI of France," Wikipedia
- "Flight to Varennes," Wikipedia
- Thomas Wright and R.H. Evans, Historical and Descriptive Account of the Caricatures of James Gillray #64
- Thomas Wright and Joseph Grego, The Works of James Gillray, the Caricaturist; With the History of His Life and Times p. 129.
Comments & Corrections
NOTE: Comments and/or corrections are always appreciated. To make that easier, I have included a form below that you can use. I promise never to share any of the info provided without your express permission.