The French flag or tricolor is the only recognized national emblem and is referred to as the blue-white-red (instead of “the red, white and blue” as we refer to our flag). But Marianne is considered a famous national emblem also and she is everywhere—statues and busts, on coins, stamps, in paintings, etc. Her profile is also on the official seal of the country.No one can explain her origins but she is considered an embodiment of the Republic (after the royals were kicked out during the Revolution in 1789—or more accurately, decapitated!). And why a woman instead of a man? La Republique is a feminine noun in the French language; and a feminine symbol seemed like a good idea to break from the monarchy, which had been headed by men. Before the French Revolution, masculine figures had always personified France.
The three statues representing liberte, egalite, and fraternite (all feminine words in French) on the statue are women. These three words would become France's official motto only a few decades following the Revolution and you see them on monuments and buildings all over France.Marianne usually wears a Phrygian cap, which is a soft cap worn by slaves in ancient times by inhabitants of Phrygian (an ancient kingdom where modern Turkey is now) during the Roman Empire which symbolized their citizenship. Marianne is shown either sitting or standing and may be accompanied by a rooster, the tricolor and sometimes a spear.
She has a prominent location in the square near my apartment, the place de la Republique, which is a popular gathering place for demonstrations (and the accompanying gendarmes dressed in full riot gear). And I saw her prominently displayed as a bronze statue in the place de la Nation (final photo below).
Popular belief is that she (Marianne/Liberty) is the main focus in Eugene Delacroix’s painting, “Liberty Leading the People” which is displayed in the Louvre (2/7/07 post). (By the way, this painting caused a stir when it was first exhibited because of the hair under her raised arm, a phsyical "attribute" that had never been acknowledged before. Hmmm, nothing about the ripped bodice??)
I mentioned Marianne in the 1/28/07 blog but only as an aside. I really wanted to document more about her origins and what she means to the French.More about the place de la Nation. It was originally called the la place du Trone, as a throne was placed here to welcome the newly-wedded King Louis XIV and Queen Marie Therese upon their arrival in Paris in 1660. During the Revolution, the name was changed to la place du Trone-Renverse (the overthrown throne!) but was given its current name in 1880 on the occasion of the first national celebration of Nation or Bastille Day on July 14th. The statue in the middle was erected in 1889, 100 years after the Revolution, and together with the place de la Republique and the place de la Bastille, forms a triangle where different political demonstrations (usually "left") traditionally take place. Marianne is looking symbolically in the direction of the place de la Bastille. Another interesting fact: At one time during the Revolution, you could find a guillotine near here as well as at the major location on the place de la Concorde.
