Page 333 - Beholding Liberty!

HALL OF THE TROPHIES
II.8.C.7
[François René de Chateaubriand]
Note sur la Grèce
[Memorandum about Greece]
Paris: By the Printing House of Firmin Didot, 1825 Library of the Hellenic Parliament
AN ANONYMOUS TRANSLATION of Note sur la Grèce, which had been published by Chateaubriand during the same year. The trans- lator credits the steadfast commitment of the famous publisher Firmin Didot. The Note was fre- quently reprinted in French, as well as in Spanish and German translations. It was published in Greek in 1826, translated by N. Spiliadis. This edition of 1825 contains an appendix with an excerpt from Chateaubriand’s Voyage [cat. no I.1.6], containing
II.8.C.8
French factory at Montereau
excerpts from his account pertaining to Greece.
Having already had first-hand experience of Greece, in 1806, in his Voyage en Orient Chateau- briand took a clear stance in favour of the Greek Revolution; he also became a prominent member of the Philhellenic Committee in Paris. With his Note on Greece, he sought to mobilise public opin- ion and convince the rulers of Christian nations using legal and historical arguments that the Greek cause was just.
Greek committee presided over by Chateaubriand, ca. 1826-30
faience plate, diameter 20.8 cm
inscribed (caption): COMITE GREC PRESIDE PAR M.R DE CHATEAUBRIAND. (low centre) Hellenic Parliament Art Collection, inv. n. 454
MONTEREAU POTTERY, at the confluence of the Rivers Yonne and Seine, was active since the mid-eighteenth century; at the time of the Greek Rev- olution it was owned by Saint-Cricq-Casaux and man- aged by Louis Leboeuf and Tribault.
A series of coloured faience plates was produced cir- ca 1826-30, with floral patterns around the edge and philhellenic images in the centre. The subjects were also drawn – as in the Choisy-le-Roy series [cat. nos II.1.24-27] – from the lithographs produced by the painter and printmaker Henri-Charles [Karl] Loeillot [Loeillot-Hartwing] (1798-1864) in 1824-25 under the title Battles for Greek Independence, printed by Bové in Paris.
The images in these decorative plates are rendered in meticulous detail and accompanied by captions at the bottom.
The interest is focused on prominent figures of the War, either in action scenes or images of symbolic sig- nificance.
This example shows the French philhellene Chateau- briand, an ardent supporter of the Greek indepen- dence, chairing a meeting of the Philhellenic Committee in Paris. He is shown at the
right end of the composition, stand- ing, addressing the members.
SCENES AND FIGURES OF FREEDOM The phenomenon of Philhellenism 333