Roman Republicans, fasces and festivals: the French occupation of Rome, 1798-99, from the archives of the Museo Napoleonico

Apollo, Jan, 2004 by Eleanor Tollfree

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For the French, however, who for nearly ten years had been proclaiming themselves the 'children of Brutus' and the founders of the first true republic since the ancient Roman Republic, the perfect opportunity had come for them to act as 'Romans' and to claim the historic site of the Capitol as their own. An engraving of the Proclamation de la Republique Romaine, Le 27 Pluviose, An VI (Fig. 8), (46) depicts the monuments placed on the Capitol to mark the declaration of the Republic. Pointing towards the pedestal decorated with fasces and a Tree of Liberty (in this case a post supported between crossed banners and surmounted by olive branches), the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius appears to welcome the foundation of the new Republic and to offer the French the heritage of Rome. Despite the fact that the sculpture was an imperial monument, in the context of the new Roman Republic it was transformed into a symbol of the new regime, in support of the direct historical Links which the French Republicans claimed existed between them and ancient Rome. In front of the pedestal with the Tree of Liberty stands a monumental column topped with a figure in loose Roman dress with outstretched hand, which may well have been inspired by the bronze figure of Camillus on display in the Palazzo dei Conservatori nearby (Fig. 9). (47) As early as 1767, the Frenchman Maille Dassausoy had published a two-volume work in which he proposed turning the Louvre into a new centre for the city, a Capitol, where great citizens would be honoured as the great men of the Roman Republic had been in antiquity. (48) The plans of Dassausoy, and--more significantly--the appropriation of the site of the ancient Capitol, with all its historical associations, by the French during the Roman Republic, foreshadowed the establishment of the Louvre as the 'new Capitol' in Napoleonic Paris. (49)

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Another engraving from the archives of the Museo Napoleonico is a design by the Italian sculptor Michele Ilari for a monument celebrating the 'liberation' of Rome by the French (Fig. 10). (50) Ilari does not specify the exact location intended for the monument. (51) However, since the monument was designed to commemorate the proclamation of the Republic on the Capitol, (52) and depicts four reclining river gods which recall those of the Tiber and the Nile flanking the fountain in front of the Palazzo Senatorio (Fig. 11) and the Marforio displayed in the courtyard of the Museo Capitolino (Fig. 12), (53) it seems that Ilari may have intended the monument for the Piazza del Campidoglio itself. Certainly, the river gods, the winged victory figures in between swags of foliage on the podium below, and the battle spoils and eagles and swags depicted on the podium supporting the figure of Liberty all suggest that his design was inspired by well-known ancient Roman sculptures and monuments. (54)

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The French attempted to foster Republican enthusiasm by replacing religious feast days with Revolutionary celebrations such as the Fete of the Federation and the Fete of the Perpetuity of the Republic. At these festivals, participants dressed as Roman senators honoured the memory of early martyrs in the cause of liberty. (55) Such visual demonstrations by the French were resented by the Italians. They were particularly enraged when, to celebrate the Fete of the Federation, the bronze angel on the top of Castel S Angelo was painted in the colours of the Revolution, given a cap of liberty and transformed into 'le Genie liberateur de la France'. (56) At the same time, a triumphal arch twenty-three metres high was erected as a gateway to the Ponte S Angelo, which was renamed the 'Pont de la Republique'. (57) The arch was designed by Giuseppe Barberi to commemorate the French 'liberators' who had passed across on their way to St Peter's. It was surmounted by a stucco group representing 'La France unissant Rome a la Liberte', placed between war trophies and two amphorae in imitation bronze, created by Giovanbattista Comolli, who from then on was known as the 'sculpteur de la Republique romaine'. The arch was inset with sculptural reliefs depicting the campaigns of the French armies in Italy, while in front and behind it there stood figures of Liberty and Triumph on circular podia. As we have seen, triumphal arches were incorporated into the designs for festivals to the Revolution held in Paris, such as the Festival of the Federation (1790) and the Festival of Unity and Indivisibility (1793). The arch erected on the Ponte S Angelo, however, was more closely modelled on an ancient Roman model (the Arch of Constantine), and owing to its location in front of one of the best-known monuments of the ancient city, the Castel S Angelo, in the context of the city of Rome it would have suggested even more strongly the visual links between the French Republicans and ancient Rome.