The Convention Sculpture

The sculpture of the National Convention stands where the church choir once sat. Now that the Panthéon is no longer a church, the sculpture occupies that spot. The National Convention was the parliament of the First Republic, which rose after the French Revolution toppled the monarchy. In other words, a secular monument now stands in a space that was once religious. Through this single image you can read the Panthéon's history: a church turned into a national mausoleum for the heroes of the Republic, a religious space made secular.

Before we look closely at the sculpture, glance up at one painting in which the Panthéon's religious past still shows. It's by the French painter Ernest Hébert. At the center, Jesus holds a prophetic book in his left hand and points ahead with his right. He is showing his guardian angel the historical events of France depicted in the Panthéon's murals, with Saint Joan of Arc and Saint Genevieve, the heroines of that history, at either side. Doesn't the angel look a little stunned? That expression hints at how much hardship French history has held.

Now for the sculpture by François Léon Sicard. In large letters it reads "la convention nationale," which is simply "The National Convention" in English. It celebrates the arrival of a republic in which the people, not the king, own the nation, after an absolute monarchy in which kings were like gods. Above the lettering is a phrase from the spirit of the Revolution: "Vivre libre ou mourir," or "Live free or die!"

Above that stands Marianne, the female figure symbolizing the spirit of the French Revolution. She's best known as the heroine of a painting by Delacroix. In both the painting and the sculpture, Marianne wears a red cap known as a Phrygian cap. In ancient Rome, it was worn by slaves who had been freed. During the Revolution it came to symbolize "freedom," and citizen soldiers fighting the king's army wore it. The red cap Papa Smurf, the leader of the Smurfs, wears is exactly this Phrygian cap.

Marianne also holds a sword in one hand, with the tip pointed downward, and that's her signature. If you travel around France and spot a sculpture or painting of a figure in a Phrygian cap with a downward-pointing sword, you're looking at Marianne, symbol of the Revolution. To her right is a sculpted group of legislators, and to her left, one of soldiers.

Was Marianne a real person? No, she's an invented figure. The name began when people started calling the woman who embodied the Revolution's ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity "Marianne." No one knows exactly why that name was chosen, but many guess it was simply the most common woman's name among ordinary people at the time. Marianne was officially designated a symbol of the French Republic in 1848, and the French government's official logo today is a profile of Marianne.

Next we head downstairs to see the tombs of the Republic's great figures, but some of them couldn't be placed in the crypt. Their names are carved into the walls of the passages on either side of the Convention sculpture. You'll find revolutionaries and artists there, and in the right-hand passage, the name of the writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. He joined the French Air Force in World War II and disappeared while flying a reconnaissance plane, so there is no coffin. His name alone is carved here. Try spotting it before you go down.