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Primary sourcePaintingbetween 1799 and 1849

Staatsgreep van 18 Brumaire

François Louis Couché, after Jean Duplessis-Bertaux · between 1799 and 1849

A print from a series on the French Revolution depicting the 18 Brumaire coup that brought Napoleon to power, orchestrated with Sieyès's involvement.

Depicts the 18 Brumaire coup that Sieyès helped engineer, a defining moment of his political career.

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Engraved print titled Journée du 18 Brumaire An 8, 9 Novembre 1799, from the series Histoire de la Révolution Française. Men in period coats and hats stand and walk in a formal room with a fireplace, a mirror, statues, and a crowd gathered near tall windows on the left.
François Louis Couché, after Jean Duplessis-Bertaux, Staatsgreep van 18 Brumaire, 1799–1849. Rijksmuseum.

About this source

What it is

This is an engraved print made between 1799 and 1849, created by François Louis Couché after a design by Jean Duplessis-Bertaux. It is part of a series titled 'Histoire de la Révolution Française', documenting important events of the French Revolution, including the 18 Brumaire coup of 9 November 1799.

Why it matters

The print shows the coup that ended the Directory government and placed power in the hands of Napoleon Bonaparte. Sieyès was a key architect of this coup, one of the directors who worked to replace the existing system. Images like this, made as part of a historical series, helped later generations visualize and remember the Revolution's turning points.

Look closer

  • What details in the room—the statues, mirror, crowd—tell you about the setting of this event?
  • Why do you think this scene was included in a series about the Revolution?
  • What questions does this image raise that it does not answer about who was really in control?

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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