Ignoto - Camille Desmoulins

Refined antique miniature depicting Camille Desmoulins, renowned lawyer, journalist, and key figure of the French Revolution

Half-length portrait of the revolutionary Camille Desmoulins, rendered with careful attention to the details of his facial features, hair, and period clothing (blue jacket and white decorative bow/cravat).
The miniature is set in a finely decorated repoussé metal bezel, itself placed inside an elegant square dark-wood frame with a deep circular recess in the center.
It has its original/period paper backing, bearing the pencil inscription “Camille Desmoulins” and geometric/floral decorative motifs in the background.
Fitted with a metal hanging hook.
Good overall condition, consistent with the age of the object. Minor signs of age on the wooden frame lend it an authentic period patina.
Signed at the lower left P. A. (?)
Contemporary dark-wood frame (ebony?) with a chased gilt-bronze circular mount and convex glass.
On the back of the frame, an old label bearing the inscription Camille Desmoulins…

Overall dimensions: 105 x 105 mm.

Miniature dimensions: 45 x 45 mm


This is a rare antique work depicting the young Camille.

Camille Desmoulins (1760–1794) was born in Guise on March 2, 1760. A lawyer and brilliant journalist, he studied at the prestigious Louis-le-Grand College in Paris, where he formed a celebrated friendship with Maximilien Robespierre. On July 12, 1789, in the gardens of the Palais-Royal, he delivered a fiery speech that urged the people to rise up, giving decisive impetus to the storming of the Bastille two days later. A key figure in the Revolution, he founded important publications, including Le Vieux Cordelier, through which he had the courage to denounce the excesses and violence of the Reign of Terror. He joined the Dantonists in an attempt to halt the mass executions; his opposition to the Committee of Public Safety led to his arrest on baseless charges. Tried alongside Georges Danton, he was guillotined on April 5, 1794, at the age of thirty-four, a victim of the very political struggles to which he had given voice.

Please see the attached photos, which form an integral part of the description. Some fading is visible on the lower part of the frame, as shown in the photos. The painting is in excellent condition and still retains its original period glass.



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