SIEGE OF THE BASTILLE

ANDRIEU, Bertrand: France, 1789, Lead-filled Bronze, 85 mm
Obv: Scene of siege    SIEGE DE LA BASTILLE
Exergue:  PRISE PAR LES CITOYENS DE LA VILLE DE PARIS LE 14 J.UET 1789
Rev:  Uniface
Signed:  ANDRIEU. F. N.O 1
Lead-filled bronze cliché, part of boxed set
Ref: Hennin 23; Julius 14; TN. 6.5;  Jones, "Art of the Medal", 99/253;  Europese Penningen # 1683;  Weiss BW393

The dissemination of propaganda was an important aspect of the French Revolution. It was accomplished through the publication of prints, which publicized events quickly after they occurred, and through the issuance of medals, a permanent form of commemoration. These medals were intended to form part of a set that recalled crucial events in the Revolution. Although the set was never completed, they do show highly symbolic moments from the early stages of the uprising that represented the triumph of the people over the repressive monarchy. This medal depicts the Siege of the Bastille.
On the morning of 14 July 1789, a crowd advanced on the Bastille, the state prison. Their purpose to was to ask the governor to release the prisoners and deliver the weapons held in the building. The governor was evasive and the people stormed the fortress. The medal vividly captures the scene, showing the garrison firing onto the crowd pouring into the building over the broken drawbridge and the National Guard opening a breach in the wall. The revolutionary government subsequently demolished the Bastille,  thereby reinforcing the idea of overturning the old order and beginning  the "era of liberty", though the excesses of the revolution led to chaos and often to unjustified executions.

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