id: 172514 accession number: 2015.21 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2015.21 updated: 2023-04-22 12:24:43.873000 The Storming of the Bastille, July 14, 1789 , 1790. Charles Thévenin (French, 1764–1838). Etching; sheet: 41.6 x 58.5 cm (16 3/8 x 23 1/16 in.); image: 36.9 x 58.1 cm (14 1/2 x 22 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Trust 2015.21 title: The Storming of the Bastille, July 14, 1789 title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1790 creation date earliest: 1790 creation date latest: 1790 current location: creditline: Severance and Greta Millikin Trust copyright: --- culture: France, 18th century technique: Etching department: Prints collection: PR - Etching type: Print find spot: catalogue raisonne: Baudicour 1859-61, pp. 313-14; cat. no. 1 --- CREATORS * Charles Thévenin (French, 1764–1838) - artist --- measurements: Sheet: 41.6 x 58.5 cm (16 3/8 x 23 1/16 in.); Image: 36.9 x 58.1 cm (14 1/2 x 22 7/8 in.) state of the work: state I/II, proof before letters edition of the work: support materials: description: laid paper watermarks: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Elegance and Intrigue: French Society in 18th-century Prints and Drawings opening date: 2016-07-16T04:00:00 Elegance and Intrigue: French Society in 18th-century Prints and Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 16-November 6, 2016). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: Overtaking the Bastille, a fortress prison and symbol of the monarchy’s power, was a turning point in the French Revolution (1789–99). This etching of the successful rebellion is the only print made by the history painter Charles Thévenin. Typically, artists recorded historical events in paintings that printmakers then engraved with tools called burins, but in this case Thévenin drew his composition directly on the prepared etching plate, capturing a sense of the excitement he claimed to have witnessed firsthand. A newspaper announcement for the etching marveled at its capacity to expediently relate the emotional spirit of the revolutionary event, for which viewers would otherwise have to “await vainly from the cold burin.” --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2015.21/2015.21_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2015.21/2015.21_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2015.21/2015.21_full.tif