'Les vainqueurs de la Bastille'

Photograph of a painting by Paul Delaroche, completed in 1839 and now in the collection of the Petit Palais, Paris (Inv. no. PPP42). The work depicts wounded Parisians arriving at the Hôtel de Ville after the Storming of the Bastille in 14 July 1789. Many bear arms and trophies looted from the medieval prison. A central male figure, perhaps Jacob Job Élie (1746-1825), is being carried on the shoulders of two comrades. Crowned with laurel, he holds a sword in his right hand and the fortress’ key together with a document in his left hand. The document was supposedly signed by Bernard-René de Launay (1740-1789), the governor of the Bastille, who had just been lynched by the crowd.