La Prise des Tuileries

This work by Henri-Paul Motte, titled “La Prise des Tuileries,” depicts the storming of the Tuileries Palace during the revolutionary day of 10 August 1792 in Paris. The scene shows the violent clash between the insurgents and the defenders of the palace, especially the Swiss Guards, on the great stairway filled with smoke, gunfire, and fallen bodies. The composition emphasizes the brutality of the confrontation, the chaos of the assault, and the decisive nature of this insurrection, which led to the effective fall of the monarchy of Louis XVI and opened a new phase of the French Revolution. Painted in 1892 and exhibited at the Salon of 1892, this history painting reflects the dramatic memory of one of the major revolutionary days.