3-039-231 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The fallen column in the Place Vendôme, Paris, 1871. Illustration of '...the wilful destruction of this famous monument of French military glory by the Red Republican faction of the Commune...the huge mob waited quite silent, all gazing at the column... Suddenly, to the surprise of all spectators, the vast column moved, swayed, and then swept magnificently down. It fell exactly on the litter prepared for it, with a dull, heavy, lumbering sound. The shock and noise were so slight that everyone was astonished...A thick cloud of dust from the crushed and powdered masonry rose into the air; at the same moment the crowd raised a tremendous shout of "Vive la Commune!" the bands played the "Marseillaise," the dust cleared away, and there lay the glorious column of shattered bronze and masonry...The figure of the Great Emperor lay on its back...and entirely detached...They treated the statue of the soldier as the Emperor [Napoleon] himself - spoke of him insultingly; a National Guard spat in the face, another struck the nose of the statue violently with the butt of his rifle. The excited populace were still crowding to see the ruin, the red flags were waving...The masonry of the column was broken into a thousand pieces'. From "Illustrated London News", 1871.