28 Oct PROCLAMATION (RED). 1985.

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1985
42 x 29.5cm, red on white satin paper offset lithograph with a text in French after Saint-Just and his comrade in arms Lebas who had been sent to Stranbourg in 1794 by Robesprierre to end local disputes in the city that had come to violence. This was part of a general move on the Committe for Public Safety to rein in the actions of the many Representatives on Mission who had overstepped their perceived powers and gain central control of the country. The proclamation (on 25 Brumaire, 1794) tells citizens of Strasbourg to stop acting like Germans as their hearts are French. By accounts Saint-Just and Labas took the side of the city merchants over that of agitators from outside (presumably regarded as more "German") and capturing the latter's leader Euloge Schneider sent him back to Paris to meet the guillotine (again: as they had publicly displayed him tied up in front of a the local version for a day) but now for the last time .Brumaire was the second month of the revolutionary calendar and its symbol was fog. Ultimately the Coup of 18 Brumaire brought General Napoleon Bonaparte to power as First Consul of France and in the view of most historians ended the French Revolution.
There were two colour variants of this print - this is the red one, the blue is also in this collection.

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