Study for "The Enrollment of the Volunteers of 1792"

Study for "The Enrollment of the Volunteers of 1792"

Thomas Couture

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Following the Revolution of 1848, the new Second Republic government commissioned Couture to paint "The Enrollment of the Volunteers of 1792" for the Hall of Sessions of the National Assembly. The government sought a unifying message of patriotism by highlighting a historical moment when, amid the turbulence of the Revolution initiated in 1789, Frenchmen of many classes came together in defense of the Republic, then at war with Austria. This study for the left portion of the composition lays out the frieze-like procession of the volunteers. The workmen strain with the labor of pulling a cannon forward, while a young aristocrat following at their heels raises his arm with enthusiasm.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Study for "The Enrollment of the Volunteers of 1792"Study for "The Enrollment of the Volunteers of 1792"Study for "The Enrollment of the Volunteers of 1792"Study for "The Enrollment of the Volunteers of 1792"Study for "The Enrollment of the Volunteers of 1792"

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.