Hugo, Gautier and the Obelisk of Luxor (Place de la Concorde) During the Second Republic

The short-lived Second French Republic (1848-1851) saw the appearance of three poems about or addressed to the Obelisk of Luxor (Paris) – by Hugo, Gautier and Christien Ostrowski. Although in 1848 the Place de la Concorde site had become an arena for public rejoicing and civic ceremony, it was memories of its role during the Revolution that underlie these poems. Louis XVI was executed there in 1793. As well as generally symbolic of the historical cycle of revolution, republicanist and royalty, the Obelisk can be interpreted as a "hidden" commemorative monument for the fall of the French monarchy. (NAH)