umm frev doodles cus i wanted to practice with their faces a bit
pls PLEASE !!! MOAR STJUST X COUTHON !!!! ššš¤§š¤§
lol me and @anotherhumaninthisworld were discussing PƩtion's 'Golden Retriever' personality, and I just ttly felt a need to draw this all day today.
How often do you ask yourself āWhat Couthon thought about it?ā when you read Robespierreās and Saint-Justās opinions about something?
It seems to me (at least this evening) that Thermidorian propaganda was most cruel, albeit unintentionally, to Couthon.
Both Robespierre and Saint-Just were demonized, one as a bloody dictator, another as an āArchangel of Terrorā. But these images, though far from reality, were magnetizing. Thermidorian propaganda turned people into a kind of myths characters, into symbols. And they are attrecting (not attective), they make you want to learn more.
What French Revolution movies tend to depict? The Reign of Terror. What people far from the Revolution remember the best? Bastille and the Terror ā and so they know Robespierre as a dictator, and maybe they know about Saint-Just, his supporter.
And now we have two points:
Couthon didnāt get a dark legend that could attract. His function was to be the third in Triumvirate, while the ones who were usually named, acted in person and really bothered and offended thermidorians were Robespierre and Saint-Just. That deprives Couthon of his identity, so when he is finally named itās like: Couthon in Lyon acts the way triumvirs thought was right; Couthon in Prairial suggested the Robespierreās law.
Couthon was a deputy of Legislative Assembly, but who cares? Legislative Assembly is an approaching of the war, is the beginning of the āsuspectsā politics, is a march to the republic, is Girondins rise and shine.
Ā On 5th October 1791 Couthon gave a stunning speech about why the pomp around the executive should be reduced and the king should be addressed only by āthe king of Frenchā (the decree was enacted the same meeting, repealed the next day). Moniteur
On 7th October 1791 Couthon gave a speech criticizing the priests who didnāt take a civil oath. It was the first speech of that type given in the Legislative Assembly. Moniteur And then disappears from history books until he meets Dumouriez and then until the National Convention. I canāt believe he ceased acting. But I have no time to search for his name in every issue of the Assembly period.
I donāt say no one studies him. My point is different.
When I searched for āCouthonā on Internet Archive, I got this:
With āCouthonā in a title:
On Gallica with āCouthonā in a title:
And this:
How is he usually depicted in movies? Sitting here and there in his wheelchair.
What will someone without special interest in him mostly remember about him?
Lyon mission
Prairial law
A dog
Paralytic
Member of CPS, Triumvirate
A friend of Dumouriez before his treason
Not much, and not much politics.
And that is my point: Thermidorian propaganda put a āNothing interesting hereā sign on him.
That big one, that what made me seriously think about Couthon was a biography of Vergniaud, where he acted by his own.
If anyone knows a good biography of Couthon, please, share it.
Later French Cavalry (Hussar) Uniforms
"The hussars never halt, they ride their horses at full speed, breaking through everything that's in front of them".Ā
FranƧois Paulin Dalerac
A bit of a return to form.
From "Napoleonic Uniforms Volume I"
For a new world would come / Every once in a while
happy birthday couthon! š