To What Extent did the French Revolution and the

Napoleonic era lay the Foundation for a new French

Identity?

Photo Analysis

Title: Fighting at the Hotel de Ville, July 28
th
1830

Artist: Jean victor Schnetz (1787-1870)

Location: Hotel de Ville, Paris


Battle Outside the Hotel de Ville is a painting by Jean Victor Schnetz. A French revolutionary stands in
the center of this painting, on top of the hill and an injured revolutionary in his right. The injured man is
holding the flag waving gloriously shows how proud the revolutionaries were. The pride of the
revolutionaries is also shown through the face of the center man standing on the hill. There is only one
French counter revolutionary (A counter-revolutionary is anyone who opposes a revolution) soldier
shown and he is dead. This symbolizes how triumphant the revolutionaries were. The main focus is the
flag and the three proud looking revolutionaries. Schnetz depicts a time in his painting where all of the
lower classes were searching for equality. He specifically painted the Battle outside the Hotel de Ville of
the French Revolution, which took place in the late 1700s. Before 1798, life was unfair for the lower
classes. They were not equally represented, they had to pay more taxes and they could not claim
property damage when weather or hungry animals ruined their crops. Not only were the lower classes
poor for aiding the Americans in their fight for independence with their taxes but the young queen of
France could not help herself to the many expense luxuries of being royal, causing much financial pain to
France. This, along with the Enlightenment ideas of the 18th century, led to revolts and eventually the
French Revolution. Schnetzs painting connects to the overall theme of the human struggle to be
perfect. To people, a perfect world has no class system and equality for everyone. The peasants of
France are one of many other groups to literally go through blood, sweat, and tears for this perfect
world. "Battle Outside the Hotel de Ville" shows the pride the revolutionaries had in their country, and
the heroism of the people who were thought of as nothing.