Ruins of the Tuileries Palace
1871
Medium
Gouache, watercolor, and graphite on light brown paper
Dimensions
19 9/16 x 14 15/16 in. (49.8 x 38.0 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Karen B. Cohen Gift, in memory of Lawrence Turčić, 1988
Accession Number
1988.144
Tags
Art Historical Context
In 1871, amid the chaotic final days of the Paris Commune—an uprising against the French government that gripped the city in revolution—Isidore Pils captured the devastation of the Tuiler Palace in this poignant drawing. The once-grand royal residence, a symbol of monarchical power from the 16th century, was ablaze by Communard forces in May, reducing its opulent halls to skeletal ruins Pils, a respected academic painter known for his scenes and murals, documented this pivotal moment with a directness that underscores the Commune's turbulent legacy, blending eyewitness urgency with artistic pr...
About the Artist
Isidore Pils · 1813–1875
Isidore-Alexandre-Augustin Pils (1813/15–1875), born in Paris to the soldier François Pils, emerged as a leading French academic painter known for religious and military subjects. At age twelve, he studied under Guillaume Guillon-Lethière for four years before entering the École des Beaux-Arts in 1831 as a student of François-Édouard Picot. His talent secured the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1838 w...