Frimaire (21 november - 20 december) 1792 - 1794

Salvatore Tresca created this print of "Frimaire," sometime between 1750 and 1815. In muted tones, Tresca presents a scene of classical allegory with a figure who embodies the month of Frimaire in the Republican Calendar. The subject is portrayed with a formal elegance, her figure rendered with a balance of curved and straight lines. The composition is structured around her central pose, drawing the eye from the curve of her bow to the dog at her side, and upwards to the sky where a chariot and figures emerge in the sky. She is adorned with the symbols of the hunt and winter, all meticulously detailed in the engraving. Tresca employs a nuanced approach to depth and texture, creating a semiotic interplay where classical form meets revolutionary ideals. The classical composition reflects a desire to stabilize revolutionary shifts within the established aesthetic values of the time. The print, therefore, functions as a site where the old order is renegotiated through new forms of representation.