33 - French School, mid-19th century

French School, mid-19th century The Attack on Clos St. Lazare. Saturday, June 24, 1848 Oil on canvas 32 x 40 cm Gilded frame with cartouche Historical Background: This episode took place during the revolutionary days of June 1848, when insurgents attacked the National Guard stationed at the Faubourg Poissonnière, on the site of the former Clos Saint-Lazare. “Among the notable events of the attack on Clos Saint-Lazare, which lasted more than twenty-four hours, we must highlight the defense of the Poissonnière Barrier by the Second Battalion of the 1st Legion last Saturday. At four o’clock, supported by an artillery battery, five companies of this battalion arrived under fire from the insurgents, who were still occupying a barricade just inside the barrier. Two cannon shots drove the attackers back, after which the 1st Legion rushed so impetuously into enemy fire that the battery was left behind and rendered ineffective.”