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The French Revolution: Tearing up History

Art historian Dr Richard Clay journeys through the dramatic and destructive years of the French Revolution, telling its history through the extraordinary story of its art.

A journey through the dramatic and destructive years of the French Revolution, telling its history in a way not seen before - through the extraordinary story of its art. Our guide through this turbulent decade is the constantly surprising Dr Richard Clay, an art historian who has spent his life decoding the symbols of power and authority.

Dr Clay has always been fascinated by vandalism and iconoclasm, and believes much of the untold story of the French Revolution can be discovered through the stories of great moments of destruction. Who were the stone masons in the crowd outside Notre Dame that pulled down the statues of kings? Why do the churches of Paris still carry all the coded signs of anti-Christian state legislation? What does it mean, and who was carrying this out?

Telling the story of the French Revolution - from the Storming of the Bastille to the rise of Napoleon - as the significant modern outbreak of iconoclasm, Clay argues that it reveals the destructive and constructive roles of iconoclasts and how this led directly to the birth of the modern Europe.

1 hour

Last on

Tue 15 May 2018 00:20
主播大秀 Four

Clip

Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:28

    Daft Punk

    Contact

  • 00:35

    Philip Glass

    Opening

    Performer: Bruce Brubaker.
  • 00:52

    Fever Ray

    Concrete Walls

  • 00:58

    Mogwai

    I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead

Credits

Presenter Richard Clay
Producer Nick Clarke Powell
Director Nick Clarke Powell

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