The Oath of the Tennis-Court is considered the inaugural moment of the French Revolution.  Before the revolution, political re-presentation was divided into three Estates, the first two being made up of the nobility and clergy, while 96 percent of the population was represented under the Third Estate.  In 1789 a stalemate developed over whether votes would be cast by Estate, thereby privileging the nobility and clergy who were sure to vote together, or by head, which would give the Third Estate the majority.  The Third Estate withdrew from the Estates General, declaring itself a new National Assembly.  Finding themselves locked out of their hall, they moved their meeting to an indoor tennis-court where they swore an oath not to disband until a constitution had been drawn up for France. 

A storm cloud of allegorical figures tumbling into the hall elevates the scene to a transcendent mythological event.  At its center is Liberty, bearing a lance with a Phrygian cap.  To the right, France wields a sword and shield, perhaps driving away Tyranny and Sin. The allegorical figures are given their own physical reality, for the clouds surrounding them cast shadows within the hall.   

Lindsay Twa