The People Force the Doors of the Abbaye St.-Germain Prison and Free the Prisonners (30 June 1789) c. 1789

Curator: This is Jean François Janinet's "The People Force the Doors of the Abbaye St.-Germain Prison and Free the Prisonners (30 June 1789)," housed here at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It has a wonderful sense of restrained energy; the muted tones lend it a feeling of contained chaos about to erupt. Curator: The image resonates with potent symbols of liberation. Consider the raised arms, the broken doors representing the collapse of oppressive regimes, and the freeing of prisoners as embodiments of new beginnings. Editor: Indeed, and consider the etching technique itself. The relative ease of producing prints like this allowed revolutionary ideas to be cheaply and widely distributed, thus fueling change itself. Curator: Precisely, the artist seizes the moment when the symbols of power begin to yield. You feel the people claiming a new visual vocabulary. Editor: A powerful reminder that the means of production shape the message. The print's accessibility directly mirrors the event it depicts. Curator: It all comes together to give us insight into the psychological and societal shifts of that time. Editor: A small but mighty testament to the power of art as both a record and a tool of revolution.