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202 - CELEBRATION OF THE SUPREME BEING. "SCENE DE FRATERNITE MELEE…
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Estimate €300 - €400
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CELEBRATION OF THE SUPREME BEING. "SCENE DE FRATERNITE MELEE A UN GRAND SPECTACLE DE MAGNIFICENCE.... Autograph letter signed by initials to his "dear Roussel" in Caen. Paris, 22 prairial [an II-10 juin 1794]. One p. 1/2 in-4, address on back. "WE CELEBRATED LAST DECADI... THE MOST CHARMING FESTIVAL WHICH TOOK PLACE SINCE THE REVOLUTION... Our representatives will make known to all the French this scene of fraternity mixed with a great spectacle of magnificence. The reason for the celebration embellished it more than its pomp and accessories. THE HEARTS OF SENSITIVE REPUBLICANS WORSHIPED THE FATHER OF NATURE ON THIS DAY, at the same time as they sang of the sweet spring which enlivens our happy land, and of the liberty which covers it with its blessings. I would send you a rather mediocre hymn of my own, if you did not know the almost masterpiece of the poet Chénier and the beautiful, somewhat metaphysical verses of Cen Desorgues. Without doubt, the people of Calvados rushed to pay homage to the supreme author of all things; and they could not better purify their city, still impure from the breath left there by federalism, than by the incense raised to the heavenly avenger of crimes and the august rewarder of good deeds...". A DEIST FESTIVAL WANTED BY ROBESPIERRE. The cult of the Supreme Being was introduced by the Convention's decree of 7 May 1794, at the request of Robespierre, who was seeking to give virtue a metaphysical foundation, recalling that "the French people recognise the existence of the Supreme Being and the immortality of the soul" - six months after the Festival of Reason wanted by the atheist Hebertists. A single ceremony in honour of the Supreme Being was held in Paris on 8 June 1794, in two stages, in the Tuileries gardens and then on the Champ de Mars. Robespierre incinerated a statue of Atheism from which a statue of Wisdom emerged. Provenance: former Claude Mauriac collection (autograph note on the enclosed folder).
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About the sale The Empire at Fontainebleau - Second day
Auction location
Auction time 06/21/2026 at 10:30 AM
Pictures credits:
Michel Bury and Henri du Cray
See original version (French)
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