Souvenez-Vous!
Artist
E. Lemielle
Printer
Imp. Chaix Paris
Date1915
Dimensions32 1/2 x 23 1/2 in. (82.6 x 59.7 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Credit LineGift of Peter A. Blatz
Object numberPH.83
DescriptionIn the red, white, and blue of their national flag, the obscure artist E. Lemielle presents an image intended to persuade French civilians to boycott German products, urging them to remember the horrors of 1914. To this end, he combines two key motifs likely to stir both national outrage and fervent patriotism: Marianne, the personification of the French Republic, is shown gesturing at the magnificent high Gothic cathedral of Notre-Dame de Reims in flames. She carries a sword in her other hand, indicating the military might of France, and is surrounded by a collection of objects that further symbolize French culture, among them a book, an artist’s palette, and a bunch of grapes. These are intended to contrast with the barbarism of the Germans, a national characteristic confirmed, the French believed, by their shelling of the cathedral on September 19, 1914, two months into the war. The French and their allies claimed that this bombing had no strategic military value and that the building was, at the time, serving as a place of sanctuary for wounded soldiers, among them many abandoned Germans. Meanwhile, the Germans argued that the cathedral was being used by the French for military intelligence and that it was therefore a reasonable target. Whatever the truth, Reims and its cathedral were shelled repeatedly during the war; in addition to many casualties, this resulted in a French propaganda campaign referencing the attack on the cathedral that also extended through the Armistice in November 1918.On View
Not on view
