La Paix at The Louvre, Paris

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This is a sculpture titled La Paix (English: Truth) depicting an early manifestation of Marianne in the form of Athena. It measures 1.67m x 1.08m x 0.84m and was cast from bronze and golden bronze by Antoine-Denis Chaudet, born in Paris in 1763 and passing away in Paris in 1810, and Louis Jean-Baptiste Cheret, born in 1760 and passing away in 1832, and presented to the public in 1806. It was commissioned during the Peace of Amiens. The resulting Peace of Amiens lasted only one year, from May 18, 1803, and was the sole period of peace between 1793 and 1815. Under the treaty, Britain recognized the French Republic; two years earlier, the British parliament had relinquished England's historical claim to the defunct French Kingdom. A national personification is an anthropomorphism of a nation or its people. Early Western world manifestations tended to be majestic representations of Athena and often took on the Latin name of ancient Roman provinces. Examples include Britannia, Germania, and Polonia. Marianne, the Statue of Liberty, and various United States coinage are examples of personifications of the Goddess of Liberty. During the 1789 French revolution, many allegorical personifications of Liberty and Reason appeared. These two figures eventually merged into one: a female figure, either sitting or standing, accompanied by tricolor cockade and Phrygian cap attributes. This woman symbolized Liberty, Reason, the Nation, the Homeland, and civic virtues of the Republic. Historian Maurice Agulhon suggests that it was French traditions and mentality that led to using a woman to represent the Republic. A feminine allegory also served as a means to symbolize breaking with the old monarchy headed by kings and promote modern republican ideology.