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Secondary sourcePainting2009 reproduction of a book illustration

Portrait of Sieyès in Jaurès's Histoire socialiste

Jean Jaurès (book); derivative work by YSpirine · 2009 reproduction of a book illustration

An oval profile engraving of Sieyès used to illustrate a later socialist history of the French Revolution.

This later illustration depicts Sieyès and labels his roles as deputy and Assembly president.

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Oval profile portrait of a man facing right, with powdered hair and a high white collar, in a dark coat. Below the oval is printed text: 'Emmanuel Joseph Sieyes, Député de la Ville de Paris à l'Assemblée Nationale en 1789, Ch. Président le 9 Juin 1790', with a publisher line at the bottom.
Portrait of Sieyès, illustration from Jean Jaurès, Histoire socialiste de la France contemporaine, vol. I.

About this source

What it is

This is a printed oval profile portrait of Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès, used as an illustration in Jean Jaurès's Histoire socialiste de la France contemporaine. The print shows Sieyès with powdered hair and a high white collar, and names him as a deputy for Paris at the National Assembly in 1789 and its president in June 1790.

Why it matters

The image is not from Sieyès's own lifetime but from a later history written to tell the story of the Revolution from a socialist viewpoint, led by Jean Jaurès. It shows how later generations remembered and reused images of revolutionary figures to teach history.

Look closer

  • Why might a history book choose this particular pose and style of portrait?
  • What does the printed caption tell you that the image alone does not?
  • How might a portrait made decades later differ from one made during the Revolution?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte, Volume 1

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Title page scan of 'Essai sur les privilèges' in French, with the heading 'ESSAI SUR LES PRIVILÈGES', a round library stamp at left, an opening paragraph of body text, and a page number '(1788)' near the bottom. Page is grainy and partly faded.Book

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Essai sur les privilèges

Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès · 1788

Painting of a crowded, dimly lit indoor hall with tiered galleries. Many men in 18th-century dress raise their arms, and a standing figure in black at the center raises one hand. In the foreground, two men in white and dark clothing embrace near a clergyman in white robes.Painting

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Tennis Court Oath

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