Marianne
Brigitte Bardot - ? - ? - Catherine Deneuve - Mireille Mathieu
Marianne is a national emblem of France. She is present in many places in France and holds a place of honor in town halls and law courts. She symbolizes the "Triumph of the Republic", a bronze sculpture overlooking Place de la Nation in Paris. Her profile stands out on the official seal of the country. It is engraved on the French euro coins and drawn on postage stamps. It was also featured on former French franc coins and banknotes. Marianne is considered as the most prominent depiction of the French Republic.
But who is this woman, presented, by the artist Daumier, as a mother nursing two children, or, by the sculptor Rude, as an angry warrior voicing the Marseillaise on the Arc de Triomphe? And where does she come from? One thing is certain. Her image never leaves the French indifferent. In the last two wars, certain people worshipped her just like a saint. Others, who were anti-Republican, often dragged her in the mud.
In classical times, it was common to represent ideas and abstract entities by gods, goddesses and allegoric personifications. Less common during the Middle Ages, this practice resurfaced during the Renaissance. During the French Revolution, many allegorical personifications of 'Liberty' and 'Reason' appeared. These two figures finally merged into one: a sitting or standing woman, accompanied by attributes. Among them: the rooster, the tricolore cockade, the Phrygian cap. This woman typically symbolized the Liberty, the Reason, the Nation, the Homeland, the civic virtues of the Republic. (Compare the Statue of Liberty, created by a French artist, with a copy in Paris.)
In September 1792, the National Convention decided by decree that the new seal of the state would represent a standing woman holding a spear with a Phrygian cap held aloft on top of it.
Why is it a woman and not a man who represents the Republic? One could find the answer to this question in the traditions and mentality of the French, suggests the historian Maurice Agulhon, who set out on a detailed investigation to discover the origins of Marianne which have remainded mysterious. Note also that both liberté and république are feminine words in French.
The use of this emblem was initially unofficial and very diverse. Marianne/Liberty makes an appearance in Eugene Delacroix's bravura political propaganda 'Liberty guiding the people' (Louvre Museum), painted in July 1830, before the first rush of enthusiasm for Louis Philippe had time to cool. In 1848, the Ministry of the Interior launched a contest to symbolize the Republic. After the fall of the monarchy, the Provisional Government had declared: "The image of liberty should replace everywhere the images of corruption and shame, which have been broken in three days by the magnanimous French people." Two "Mariannes" were granted: the one is fighting and victorious, and reminds of the Greek goddess Athena, the other is wise and serious. She made her first appearance on a French postage stamp in 1849. Later, during the Second Empire (1852-1870), such a depiction was clandestine and was a symbol of protest against the regime. The common use of the name "Marianne" for the depiction of the "Liberty" started around 1848/1851, with a generalization around 1875. It began to be more official during the Third Republic (1870-1940). The city hall of Paris displayed a statue of "Marianne" wearing a Phrygian cap in 1880, and was quickly followed by the other French cities.
Today, although a common emblem of France, Marianne, like the rooster is not an official one, the flag of France, named and described in the Article 2 of the French constitution, being the only official emblem.
To begin with, why the name? Why Marianne rather than Françoise, Mireille or Madeleine? Some people believed it came from the name of the Jesuit Mariana, the 16th century theoretician of tyranny. Others thought it was the image of the wife of the politician Jean Reubell, basing their belief on an old date.
According to an old story, it appears that in 1797, when seeking a pleasant name for the Republic, Barras, one of the members of the Directoire, during an evening spent at Reubell's, asked his hostess' name; "Marie-Anne," she replied. "Perfect," Barras exclaimed. "It is a short and simple name which befits the Republic just as much as yourself, Madame."
A recent discovery establishes that the first written mention of the name of Marianne to designate the Republic appeared in October 1792 in Puylaurens in the Tarn département near Toulouse. At that time, people used to sing a song in the Provençal dialect by the poet Guillaume Lavabre: 'La garisou de Marianno' (French: 'La guérison de Marianne'; 'Marianne's recovery').
At that time the account made of their exploits by the Revolutionaries often contained a reference to a certain Marianne wearing a Phrygian cap (or Marie-Anne, a popular name in the French countryside then). This pretty girl inspires the sans-culottes and looks after those wounded in the many battles and clashes across the country.
The name of Marianne also appears to be connected with several Republican secret societies. During the Second Empire, one of them, whose members has sworn to overthrow the régime, had taken her name.
Today, Marianne remains as attractive as ever. She has even grown younger. As for the official busts, after having had anonymous features, she began taking the features of famous women during the Fifth Republic: the first one was Brigitte Bardot in 1970, with the design of the sculptor Alain Gourdon aka. Aslan, who reportedly had initially done it as a joke. She was followed by Mireille Mathieu (1978, Aslan again), Catherine Deneuve (1985), Inès de la Fressange, Sophie Marceau and fashion model Laetitia Casta (2000).
Laetitia Casta was named the symbolic representation of France's Republic in a vote, for the first time open to the country's more than 36,000 mayors in October 1999. She won the vote out of a shortlist of 5 candidates, scoring 36% among the 15,000 voting mayors. The other candidates were Estelle Hallyday, Patricia Kaas, Daniela Lumbroso and Nathalie Simon. Shortly thereafter, a mini-scandal shook France, after it was publicized that Casta - the new icon of the Republic - had relocated to London. Although she claimed that her move was motivated by practical professional reasons, the magazine Le Point, among others, suggested that she was trying to escape taxes, "following 250,000 other money-making Frenchmen who moved to the United Kingdom".
In 2002, a new Marianne was born. She does not have the features of a famous French women but those of an anonymous beurette (young woman of North African descent), discovered by a scouting agent looking for a model who would symbolize a modern, multiethnic France.
In late 2003, Evelyne Thomas, a talk show host, was chosen as the new Marianne.
Note that although these figures are "official", there is no strict regulation governing the display of one over the other ones.
Bleu-white-red, Marianne, Liberté-Egalité-Fraternité, the Republic: these powerful national symbols represent France and its values. Since September 1999, they have been combined in a new "identifier" created by the French government (Lionel Jospin) under the aegis of the French Government Information Service (SIG) and the public relations officials in the principal ministries. As a federating identifier of the government departments, it appears on a wide range of material - brochures, internal and external publications, publicity campaings, letter headings, business cards...- emanating from the government, starting with the various ministries (which are able to continue using their own logo) and the préfectures, decentralised government departments in the regions and départements.
The first objective targeted by this design is to unify government public relations. But it is also designed to "give a more accessible image to a State currently seen as abstract, remote and archaic, all the more essential in that French citizens express high expectations of the State". The logo chosen, "federating and mobilising, offers security and optimism, not forgetting patriotic pride."
This data was gathered from numerous interviews and consultations conducted by Sofres (a French survey institute) in January 1999, with the general public and public servants. It emerged that the French are deeply committed to the fundamental values of the Republic and expect an impartial and efficient State to be the guarantor of the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity.
History
Origin of the name
Models
A new government logo
External links and references
Initial text and pictures from: [1]. Copyright free according to the mention at: [1].
"Marianne" is also the title of the sixth track on singer/songwriter Tori Amos's masterwork "Boys For Pele". Relesaed in 1996, the song details Amos' relationship with Marianne Curtis, a high school student from Montgomery County, Maryland (a suburb of Washington, D.C) who died under questionable circumstances in the late 70s. The death, which was actually due to an accidental drug overdose, was first suspected to be murder, and then later called a suicide (in part as a cover up of the truth by extremely religious relatives.)
