Carnavalet_-_Modèle_réduit_de_la_Bastille_01

Scale models of the Bastille were produced between 1789 and 1790 by the businessman

Pierre-François Palloy Pierre-François Palloy (23 January 1755 – 1835), self-styled as ''Palloy Patriote'' (Palloy the Patriot), was an entrepreneurial building contractor remembered for the demolition of the Bastille. Life Palloy was born in 1755 in Paris. Both his ...

using stones from the demolition of the

Bastille The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was sto ...

, the building they portray.

History

Following the

fall of the Bastille The Storming of the Bastille (french: Prise de la Bastille ) occurred in Paris, France, on 14 July 1789, when revolutionary insurgents stormed and seized control of the medieval armoury, fortress, and political prison known as the Bastille. At t ...

on 14 July 1789 Palloy decided to take charge of its demolition, gaining official authorisation to do so on 16 July and completing work on 21 May 1791. Stones from the former fortress were used on several building projects, notably Pont de la Concorde, but Palloy also converted salvaged stones and other materials into souvenirs, such as stone plaques made from stones from the dungeons, medals made from chains and so on, thus launching a fashion for representations of the fall. When the 83

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

s were founded at the end of 1789 Palloy decided to make a scale model of the Bastille from its stones for each of the départements' capitals. He set up a studio dedicated to producing them, initially carved from the stones, then mass-produced by casting a mix of stone powder and mortar. He offered the scale models to the départements at the end of 1790, sending with them other products and an "apostle of Liberty" (an association set up by Palloy himself), who would give a speech when the gifts were handed over. Scale models were also offered to government ministers, to

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

and to foreign dignitaries such as

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

(his is still on display at

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...

). The scale models were around 40 cm high, 100 cm wide and 60 cm deep and were presented to the public at patriotic festivals and contributed to turning the Bastille's fall into a republican myth and symbol of liberty/

Surviving examples

Surviving examples include : *

Auch Auch (; oc, label= Gascon, Aush ) is a commune in southwestern France. Located in the region of Occitanie, it is the capital of the Gers department. Auch is the historical capital of Gascony. Geography Localization Hydrography The Riv ...

: Archives départementales du Gers *

Chartres Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as d ...

: Musée des beaux-arts de Chartres * Nancy : Musée lorrain (Palais des Ducs de Lorraine) * Nantes : Musée Dobrée * Pau : Archives départementales des Pyrénées-Atlantiques. *

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

musée Carnavalet The Musée Carnavalet in Paris is dedicated to the history of the city. The museum occupies two neighboring mansions: the Hôtel Carnavalet and the former Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau. On the advice of Baron Haussmann, the civil servant wh ...

: Musée des Archives nationales *

Quimper Quimper (, ; br, Kemper ; la, Civitas Aquilonia or ) is a commune and prefecture of the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. Administration Quimper is the prefecture (capital) of the Finistère department. Geography The ...

: Musée départemental breton *

Le Puy-en-Velay Le Puy-en-Velay (, literally ''Le Puy in Velay''; oc, Lo Puèi de Velai ) is the prefecture of the Haute-Loire department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of south-central France. Located near the river Loire, the city is famous for its ca ...

musée Crozatier The Musée Crozatier is a museum in Le Puy-en-Velay in the French Auvergne. Inaugurated in 1868, its collection comprises art and archaeological artifacts from Velay and the Haute-Loire region. The museum has undergone a major renovation from 2 ...

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

: musée départemental des antiquités *

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...

hôtel Goüin __NOTOC__ The Hôtel Goüin is a ''hôtel particulier'' in Tours, France. History The mansion was built in the 15th century and is incorrectly considered to have been the home of Jean de Xaincoings, treasurer of the assets of Charles VI ...

Tulle Tulle (; ) is a commune in central France. It is the third-largest town in the former region of Limousin and is the capital of the department of Corrèze, in the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Tulle is also the episcopal see of the Roman Catho ...

: garden of the museum cloister * Valence : musée des beaux-arts *

Vannes Vannes (; br, Gwened) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago. History Celtic Era The name ''Vannes'' comes from the Veneti, a seafaring Celtic people who lived ...

: Archives départementales du Morbihan *

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

: salle du Jeu de paume *

Vizille Vizille (; frp, Veselye) is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. Population Sights Vizille is the home of the Musée de la Révolution française, a rich depository of archival and rare materials devoted to the French ...

: salle de l'été 1789,

musée de la Révolution française The Musée de la Révolution française (Museum of the French Revolution) is a departments of France, departmental museum in the French town of Vizille, south of Grenoble on the Route Napoléon. It is the only museum in the world dedicated to the ...

Saint-Brieuc Saint-Brieuc (, Breton: ''Sant-Brieg'' , Gallo: ''Saent-Berioec'') is a city in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. History Saint-Brieuc is named after a Welsh monk Brioc, who Christianised the region in the 6th c ...

: musée d'art et d'histoire de Saint-Brieuc (not on display) *

Coutances Coutances () is a Communes of France, commune in the Manche Departments of France, department in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy in north-western France. History Capital of the Unelli, a Gauls, Gaulish tribe, the town was given the n ...

: Musée Quesnel-Morinière

Bibliography

* Jean-Pierre Babelon, 'Les maquettes et les pierres de la Bastille. Récolement des souvenirs lapidaires provenant de l'activité du patriote Pallo', ''La Gazette des archives'', 1965 {{cite web, url=http://www.persee.fr/doc/gazar_0016-5522_1965_num_51_1_1854, title=Les maquettes et les pierres de la Bastille. Récolement des souvenirs lapidaires provenant de l'activité du patriote Palloy

References

Collections of the Musée Carnavalet category:Bastille Scale modeling