Lost History – the only photograph of a prominent figure from the French Revolution
There are some extraordinary early photographs of surprising historical figures in existence. The sepia portrait of the Duke of Wellington springs to mind, as does the dusky daguerreotype of Klemens Von Metternich.
Every historian would like to see a photograph of Jesus or hear a voice recording of Caesar. Unfortunately, the advent of recording technology came well after many of the most seminal people in history perished.
The tail-end of the Napoleonic era appears to be the limit of photographic archiving (the brilliant portrait collection of Waterloo veterans, for example). However, one image in particular of a person who was intimate with famous characters like Marie Antoinette and Maximilien Robespierre does exist. It is the only known photograph of a major player in the French Revolution: It unveils a glimpse into a time that is mostly lost to our modern powers of documentation.
Joseph Souberbielle (1754-1846) was a French surgeon. He worked as a military as well as a private physician before the bloody saga of the French Revolution began in 1789. When the Bastille fell to the enraged people of Paris, the young doctor attended to the wounded rebels, making his political allegiance clear. In the spring of 1793, he was asked to treat the incarcerated former Queen of France, Marie Antoinette. While awaiting her trial, she languished away in the Concierge. The stress of her unique situation took a serious toll on her health, and Souberbielle was brought in to ensure she would be fit enough to stand trial.
The ruthless public prosecutor, Fouquier-Tinville, selected Souberbielle to be a member of the jury for Antoinette’s unprecedented arraignment.
By then, Souberbielle had joined the inner circles of the revolution’s leadership and had become a favoured friend of several members of the Committee for Public Safety (the de facto government of France).
His closest chum in that exalted company was none other than Maximilien Robespierre. When Fouqier-Tinville asked Souberbielle to sit with the jury at his patient’s trial, the doctor refused, citing his personal contact with the accused as a reason for him not to take part.
He was told that by not joining the jury he himself would be accused of sympathy for Antoinette and would likely face prosecution as well. Souberbielle reluctantly relented, joined the jury and like his fellows, found Antoinette guilty.
Soon after, Souberbielle started treating the increasingly frail dictator of France, Robespierre. Robespierre reportedly suffered from terrible stomach ulcers, among other maladies, and his medical friend was asked to alleviate his pain.
Historians haven’t been able to discover the exact treatments Souberbielle used. Still, they assume he put the figurehead of the revolution on a diet of fruit and encouraged long hot baths and regular bloodletting. His association with the controversial leader almost cost Souberbielle his life when reprisals for Robespierre’s violent regime culminated in a coup d’etat. He narrowly avoided execution and spent the rest of his long life living in obscurity.
The photograph we have of Joseph Souberbielle was apparently taken a year or so before his death aged 92. It is the only photograph of a prominent figure from the Revolution in existence.
It is amazing to think that that face was familiar to Marie Antoinette and Robespierre; people who belonged to an epoch that only written accounts, illustrations and the imagination can now access.
