Thought and Memory

Tag: France

  • How Totalitarianism Buried the Monarchic Order: From the French Revolution to World War II

    Introduction: The Old Order vs. the Revolutionary Tide

    The period from the French Revolution through the end of World War II witnessed the dramatic dismantling of Europe’s old monarchic order and the rise of mass ideological regimes. In the traditionalist view espoused by thinkers like Hans-Hermann Hoppe, this transformation was no triumph of progress, but a civilizational tragedy. The centuries-old system of hereditary monarchy, rooted in Christian faith and organic social hierarchy, had provided stability, continuity, and a “spirit of a gentleman and the spirit of religion” that nurtured European civilization’s highest achievements. The revolutionary tide that began in 1789 swept away these thrones and altars, replacing them with regimes claiming to rule in the name of “the people” – but which all too often produced new forms of despotism and chaos. From the Jacobins of 1793 to the totalitarian dictators of the 20th century, the upheavals of this age can be seen as revolts against throne and altar that paradoxically led to even more absolute and ideologically driven forms of rule. In the words of Hoppe, modern mass democracy itself “has nothing to do with freedom” and is merely a “soft variant of communism”, carrying forward the egalitarian and centralizing impulse of those earlier revolutions. This deep dive will argue that the rise of totalitarian regimes marked the definitive end of the old monarchic systems – and that this was not a change for the better. Adopting an explicitly traditionalist and pro-monarchy stance, we will explore chronologically and thematically how the ancien régime (old order) was undermined and destroyed, and why monarchy’s fall was a civilizational loss that subsequent liberal democracies have not truly repaired.

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  • And it was mine.

    I read Napoleon: A Life by Andrew Roberts earlier this year. For some reason, a quote of Napoleon’s popped into my mind today. Napoleon said on arrival in Paris, “I found the Crown of France just lying in the gutter. I picked it up with the tip of my sword, and it was mine.”

    I wondered if there was artwork out there that depicted this. I couldn’t find any, so I had DALL-E 3 make some for me.

  • Romulus and Remus

    The Shepherd Faustulus Bringing Romulus and Remus to His Wife, Nicolas Mignard (1654)

    Nicolas Mignard, called Mignard d’Avignon, (7 February 1606 (baptised) – 20 March 1668) was a French painter known for his religious and mythological scenes and portraits. He spent most of his active life in Avignon creating religious and mythological paintings for religious institutions and stately homes but ended his career as court painter in Paris.

  • 16 May 1920 Joan of Arc is canonized in Rome.

    Joan of Arc, nicknamed “The Maid of Orléans”, is considered a heroine of France for her role during the Lancastrian phase of the Hundred Years’ War, and was canonized as a Roman Catholic saint. Joan said she received visions of the Archangel Michael, Saint Margaret, and Saint Catherine of Alexandria instructing her to support Charles VII and recover France from English domination late in the Hundred Years’ War. ( WIkipedia –https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc )

    La vision et l’inspiration de Jeanne d’Arc by Louis-Maurice Boutet de Monvel. Louis-Maurice Boutet de Monvel (18 October 1850 – 16 March 1913) was a French painter and illustrator best known for his watercolors for children’s books. He was a major figure in nineteenth century children’s literature illustration. ( WIkipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis-Maurice_Boutet_de_Monvel )

  • Jacob Wrestling with the Angel, 1865

    Alexander Louis Leloir, Jacob Wrestling with the Angel, 1865


  • Napoleon Crossing the Alps

    Napoleon Crossing the Alps by Jacques-Louis David.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_Crossing_the_Alps

  • Jacob Wrestling with the Angel

    Jacob Wrestling with the Angel – Doré, Gustave (1832-83). The most popular and successful French book illustrator of the mid 19th century. Doré became very widely known for his illustrations to such books as Dante’s Inferno (1861), Don Quixote (1862), and the Bible (1866)


  • Diogenes (1860) by Jean-Léon Gérôme

    Diogenes of Sinope (/daɪˈɒdʒəˌniːz/; Greek: Διογένης ὁ Σινωπεύς, Diogenēs ho Sinōpeus) was a Greek philosopher and one of the founders of Cynic philosophy. Also known as Diogenes the Cynic (Ancient Greek: Διογένης ὁ Κυνικός, Diogenēs ho Kunikos), he was born in Sinope (modern-day Sinop, Turkey), an Ionian colony on the Black Sea, in 412 or 404 BCE and died at Corinth in 323 BCE. via Wikipedia
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diogenes

    Diogenes and Alexander

    It was in Corinth that a meeting between Alexander the Great and Diogenes is supposed to have taken place. The accounts of Plutarch and Diogenes Laërtius recount that they exchanged only a few words: while Diogenes was relaxing in the sunlight in the morning, Alexander, thrilled to meet the famous philosopher, asked if there was any favour he might do for him. Diogenes replied, “Yes, stand out of my sunlight”. Alexander then declared, “If I were not Alexander, then I should wish to be Diogenes.” In another account of the conversation, Alexander found the philosopher looking attentively at a pile of human bones. Diogenes explained, “I am searching for the bones of your father but cannot distinguish them from those of a slave.”

    Death

    There are conflicting accounts of Diogenes’s death. He is alleged variously to have held his breath; to have become ill from eating raw octopus; or to have suffered an infected dog bite. When asked how he wished to be buried, he left instructions to be thrown outside the city wall so wild animals could feast on his body. When asked if he minded this, he said, “Not at all, as long as you provide me with a stick to chase the creatures away!” When asked how he could use the stick since he would lack awareness, he replied “If I lack awareness, then why should I care what happens to me when I am dead?” At the end, Diogenes made fun of people’s excessive concern with the “proper” treatment of the dead. The Corinthians erected to his memory a pillar on which rested a dog of Parian marble.

    Jean-Léon Gérôme (11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as Academicism. The range of his oeuvre included historical painting, Greek mythology, Orientalism, portraits and other subjects, bringing the Academic painting tradition to an artistic climax. He is considered one of the most important painters from this academic period, and in addition to being a painter, he was also a teacher with a long list of students. via Wikipedia

  • Jeanne d’Arc

    Jeanne d’Arc is a gilded bronze equestrian sculpture of Joan of Arc by Emmanuel Frémiet inaugurated in 1874.

    The original statue was commissioned by the French government after the defeat of the country in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War. It is the only public commission of the state from 1870 to 1914, called the Golden Age of statuary in Paris, the other statues were funded by private subscriptions.

    The sculptor took as his model Aimée Girod (1856–1937), a young woman from Domrémy, Joan of Arc’s village in Lorraine.

    The statue was inaugurated in 1874. The pedestal was designed by the architect Paul Abadie.

    The artist, who made another version of the monument for the city of Nancy in 1889, replaced the horse of the Parisian monument 10 years later by a copy of the smaller Nancy one, which earned him criticism.

    The monument was classified as a historic monument on March 31, 1992.

    via Wikipedia 

    Joan_of_Arc_Emmanuel_Fremiet

  • The Duel After the Masquerade

    The Duel After the Masquerade is a painting by the French artist Jean-Léon Gérôme, currently housed in the Musée Condé in Chantilly, France.



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