Frédéric Sorrieu

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Frédéric Sorrieu (born January 17, 1807 in Paris , † September 25, 1887 in Seine-Port ) was a French lithographer and draftsman . His series of gouache - lithographs , which were published under the title République universelle démocratique et sociale (German: The democratic and social world republic) and which propagated ideas of a universal republicanism , gained fame under the impression of the revolutions of 1848/1849 .

République universelle démocratique et sociale

In 1848, bourgeois revolutionary uprisings against the ruling powers of the Restoration took place in several European countries . In the February Revolution of 1848 , the regime of the French King Louis-Philippe I overthrew Paris . This led to the proclamation of the Second French Republic . As a result, revolutions also broke out in other monarchically ruled countries, such as the March revolutions in the federal states and in Italy .

République universelle démocratique et sociale: Le Pacte

Under the influence of these events, Sorrieu created a series of colored lithographs. He gave the first sheet of this series the subtitle Le Pacte (German: The Contract). It shows a long procession of people from many nations in a spring-like landscape . Based on the flags shown, the nations involved in this move can be identified as the peoples of the United States , France , Switzerland , Germany , Austria , the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies , Lombardy , Romagna , England , etc. In the middle distance the train, whose participants are connected by a rope, passes a tree of freedom . In the foreground, the procession reaches the stone monument of a female allegory , who points with her right hand to a plaque symbolizing the declaration of human and civil rights , and in her left hand she holds the torch of the Enlightenment . On the ground in the foreground lie the discarded symbols of the old monarchies : broken crowns , heraldic shields and heraldic eagles . Above the scene hangs in a heavenly sphere the figure of Jesus Christ , accompanied by angels , lit by a halo that in capital letters the name Fraternité : (German fraternity carries). The monument of the female allegory can be interpreted as the personification of the republic : While the peoples of the United States, Switzerland and especially France threw away the symbols of the monarchy when they reached the monument and thus symbolically and ritually overcome this form of government, other nations are, in particular the peoples of Germany and Austria immediately following them under black-red-gold tricolors , only just about to do the same and thereby symbolically embark on the path to the republican form of government.

République universelle démocratique et sociale : Le Pacte (top left), Le Prologue (top right), Le Triomphe (bottom left), Le Marché (bottom right)

In the following three sheets of the series, Sorrieu made further connections. The sheet Le Prologue (German: Das Vorspiel) shows the expulsion of the monarchical rulers by the angels, who blow the trumpets as a sign of the execution of a divine Last Judgment. The sheet Le Triomphe (German: The Victory Procession) illustrates the solemn entry of a goddess of victory who personifies the world republic. She poses on a quadriga , in her wake young men of the labor movement who carry the banner of an Organization du Travail / Solidarité universelle (German: Organization of work / universal solidarity) with them. You reach a monument built in stages with the dates 1793, 1830 and 1848, which - illustrated by medallions with the portraits of revolutionary actors - represent the reign of terror in 1793 (as the culmination of the French Revolution ), the July Revolution in 1830 and the February Revolution in 1848 . The paper Le Marché (German: The market) ultimately idealizes the utopia of worldwide free trade .

literature

Web links

Commons : Frédéric Sorrieu  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Regarding the date of death, the corresponding article on the French-language Wikipedia refers to the register of the parish of Seine-Port from 1887.
personal data
SURNAME Sorrieu, Frédéric
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French lithographer and draftsman
DATE OF BIRTH January 17, 1807
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH September 25, 1887
Place of death Seine port