Portrait of Maximilien de Robespierre (1758-1794)

École française

Known as “The Incorruptible One” because of his ideal of virtue and equality, Maximilien Robespierre was a major member of the Jacobin Club. He defended the abolition of both slavery and the death sentence, promoted universal suffrage and opposed war. He was a deputy to the Convention and was immediately attacked by the Girondins, who accused him of wanting to establish a dictatorship. He would outmaneuver them with the support of the Commune and the sans-culottes. Robespierre promoted the “necessary” Terror, which would lead to the gradual elimination of all his opponents.

The Carnavalet portrait is revealing. Robespierre was said to generally have a rather aristocratic look, which his contemporaries confirm. Here, he is shown with notable elegance, right before his overthrow on 9 Thermidor of the Year II (July 27, 1794) and his execution on the following day, which marked the end of the Revolution.