Friday, May 30, 2014

A Depiction of the 1801 Constitution


I find this lithograph quite fascinating. Supposedly a depiction of the 1801 Constitution of Toussaint Louverture, for the island of Saint Domingue, we see a bishop and a Moses figure giving the image religious and obvious abolitionist symbolism. I find it odd that the lithograph refers to the republique de Haity, however, since Toussaint Louverture never declared independence in the 1801 Constitution. And based on certain stylistic similarities with a future painting of Petion and Dessalines, I would not be surprised if this image was completed after 1801. But perhaps I am wrong, since more than one source seems to indicate this celebrates the 1801 Constitution with Toussaint himself appearing in the center, near the bishop. 

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