Portrait de Louise Michel, "la Vierge Rouge"
COURBET AND THE RED VIRGIN (APRIL 1871)
A story in the form of a screenplay, 1st published in The Copperfield Review,
Summer 2001
National Guard and citoyennes
INT. COURBET'S ATELIER - DAY
A large room with an open window with a view
of tile roofs of Paris and the towers of the church on the Montmartre
hill in the distance. Inside, HENRIETTE, a plump, pretty, model
in her early twenties, stands on a platform in the familiar pose
of "Marianne Leading the People to Victory," her head
turned back toward the imaginary masses and her arm extended
toward the future; her dingy white chemise is pulled up on one
side to reveal a rouged knee, and pulled down on the other to
reveal a rouged breast. A bright red Phrygian cap perches atop
her mass of curls.
Three NATIONAL GUARDS, in uniform, sit on boxes
or stools, sketching her. OSMANE, thirtyish, is much the oldest;
the other two are only 16 or 17. Rifles, a mess-kit, easels,
a drop-cloth and various unfinished canvases are carelessly scattered
on the floor and against the walls.
GUSTAVE COURBET, 51, a big man with a big full
beard, wearing a smock with red wine-stains and a floppy beret,
strolls distractedly around the room, humming to himself and
fingering his jabot, then stops behind one of the young National
Guards to peer at his drawing and grunts approvingly.
LOUISE MICHEL appears in the open doorway. She
is 40, not pretty but intense-looking. She is wearing a blue
tunic and broad-billed kepi identical to the National Guards.
Except for her longer hair and the patched gray skirt that extends
almost to the ankle of her boots, she might be taken for a slender
man. A long rifle-a chassepot-with fixed bayonet is slung by
its strap over her shoulder.
MICHEL
Salut, comrades!
The three Guards smile, the younger ones shyly,
Osmane broadly. Henriette cocks her head and frowns and shifts
position, yanking up her chemise to cover her breast. Courbet
looks startled.
MICHEL (CONT.)
Bonjour, mes amis!
2 YOUNGER GUARDS
(Amiably)
Bonjour.
OSMANE
Bonjour, Citoyenne! And welcome.
MICHEL
Ah, Osmane! You here? Are you going to become an artist now?
OSMANE
(grinning)
Never too old to learn, Citoyenne. The Revolution has liberated
my soul!
COURBET
Madame? You are?
OSMANE
(to Courbet, and emphasizing first word)
Citoyenne, my cher maître! This is the citoyenne Louise
Michel!
Courbet looks puzzled.
2 YOUNGER GUARDS
The Red Virgin, maître! Louise Michel, the Red Virgin.
Who faced the Prussians in December, and who rallied the Guard
against the Bretons in January!
COURBET
Ah! Citoyenne Michel! Of course. Enchanté! You have come
for a portrait?
MICHEL
Monsieur?
COURBET
I am not working with oils just now. Not for the duration of
the war, I have decided. Somber charcoal and pen-and-ink for
these days of struggle, until the final victory! But perhaps
we could make a sketch.
(as though suddenly getting an idea)
Wait! With Marianne, the Spirit of Liberty. The
Spirit of Liberty and the Spirit of the Commune, together! Come!
(excitedly)
Henriette! Resume your pose, only make way for the citoyenne!
He steps quickly over to Michel and seizes her
by an elbow, attempting to guide her to the platform. Michel
hesitates and looks at him, uncomprehending.
COURBET (CONT.)
Now if we just slip off this chassepot
(grabs the rifle and tries to ease it off Michel's shoulder)
so you can be holding it in your hands
MICHEL
(resisting, half startled, half menacing)
Monsieur! Let go, I beg you. I did not come here to pose. I am
here on business, for the Commune!
COURBET
(loudly)
Vive la Commune!
ALL 3 GUARDS
(laughing)
Vive la Commune!
Henriette belches, then covers her mouth and
giggles. The two younger Guards giggle too, and look away.
Cannon boom in the distance. Voices outside shout insults - "Ta
mère, Versaillais!" etc.
A small brass band plays, faintly at first,
a light-hearted music-hall song. The music and tramping feet
grow louder, and then fade. Henriette sings, softly then louder
and then softly again as the band passes. Her playful lyrics
make the younger Guards laugh. Osmane tries to frown disapprovingly,
but he also has to laugh. Neither Courbet nor Michel pays any
attention to Henriette , but each is studying the other.
MICHEL
Monsier Courbet. Maítre.
COURBET
No!
(laughing)
Neither monsieur nor maítre. Simply citoyen! A simple
son of France, citoyen like you!
MICHEL
(unsmiling)
Citoyen Courbet, you are a member of the Culture Commission of
the Commune.
COURBET
Why, yes. Why, yes, so I am! Indeed, I have been elected!
(laughing to himself)
And what are they saying now? Hah! Those fine gentlemen of the
Academy, with their pince-nez and their sneers. They scorned
my "Stonebreakers," they ridiculed my "Funeral
at Ornans." And now, now it is I, Citoyen Gustave Courbet,
who rules culture in Paris!
Courbet begins walking agitatedly, swinging
his arms. Henriette, without leaving her platform, mimics his
stride and his gestures broadly. The two YOUNG GUARDS stifle
their laughter. Osmane pretends not to notice her. MICHEL does
notice and smiles slightly before turning back to Courbet, who
is completely absorbed in his own discourse.
COURBET
And now, my next work,
(laughs in a crescendo from titter to bellow)
my next work will be a subtraction! A negative sculpture!
(turning suddenly toward Michel)
And to you, citoyenne, I shall confide the secret!
MICHEL
The Vendome Column?
COURBET
But, you know! How?
Henriette, still on her platform, rolls her
eyes heavenward and throws her arms back in a gesture of exasperation.
The three GUARDS stare at Courbet and frown.
MICHEL
Monsieur, citoyen, all Paris knows. You have been talking about
it for months, the destruction of the Vendome column.
The GUARDS all nod.
COURBET
(to Michel)
Talking, yes. But now we are going to do it! An engineer has
come up with a plan, they are going to saw through its base,
like a tree!
MICHEL
Yes, citoyen. Perhaps they can take all the bronze that's on
it and melt it back into cannons. That's what we need now. But
I have come for something else.
Henriette, obviously bored at being ignored,
steps down from the platform and squirms onto the lap of Osmane,
who is at first startled and then smiles with evident pleasure.
But instead of cuddling, Henriette adopts a new pose, something
like "Nymph on National Guard's Knee," with one arm
raised and stretched behind her and her face turned and keeping
her eyes on Courbet.
MICHEL (CONT.)
As an elected member of the Commune, and as the leader of its
Culture Commission, you have the education of our youth as one
of your greatest responsibilities.
COURBET
Eh? Schools you mean? You want me to set up schools, in the middle
of a revolution?
MICHEL
Why not? It is certainly more useful than toppling a column that
does no harm to anyone. And how much is that costing the Commune?
The engineer's salary alone, then the workers and the machinery
that you are assembling. All I ask is a few thousand francs,
to open an institute and pay the salaries of two teachers to
teach these children
She looks toward the 2 young Guards.
MICHEL (CONT.)
and all the other children, boys and girls who've been building
barricades and some, like these, carrying weapons, ready to die
for our freedom. To teach them to read, to know history, to know
numbers so they can make the new society!
COURBET
Huh! You think you're going to teach these scamps their lessons?
Courbet gestures and looks back toward the Guards.
For the first time he notices Henriette stretched langorously
across Osmane's lap, holding on by one hand at the back of Osmane's
neck. Courbet gapes at the scene.
COURBET (CONT.)
Henriette!
Henriette looks up startled and nearly falls
as she releases her grip on Osman's neck. Courbet stares at her
furiously, his hands at his hips, his feet wide apart.
MICHEL
(suddenly shy)
You see, maítre, I myself was once a school teacher. And
I am a poet. I know what fancies are in a child's mind, and what
frustration it is not to be able to say or write them.
COURBET
(snapping from his distraction by Henriette to look again
at Michel)
A poet? A fellow artiste, then! The Red Virgin a school teacher.
And a poet! My! What a strange world Paris has become!
He studies her with greater interest.
MICHEL
A few thousand francs, monsieur. For the children. A fraction
of what you have assigned to destroy the Vendome Column. The
Mayor of Montmartre, Monsieur Clémenceau, has promised
us a building, we want to open another in Belleville.
COURBET
I have it! I see now that I was all wrong, it is not "The
Spirit of Liberty and the Spirit of the Commune." The Spirit
of the Commune is Liberty, and much more. Yes, the children.
It is the spirit of youth.
(louder, his face half-turned toward the Guards)
Gaspar! Charlot! Put down those sketch pads and pick up your
rifles! Up on the dais with you! Osmane, you stay back. And Henriette,
no, there's no place for you in this.
The two young GUARDS scramble to obey, as though
at a military command.
Courbet turns to Michel and bows, then takes
her gently by the elbow.
COURBET
And now, my dear school mistress, to your children!
Michel allows herself to be guided up to the
dais, where Courbet thoughtfully arranges her and the two young
Guards so that they are kneeling at her feet and looking up at
her.
COURBET
A book. The school mistress needs an open book.
(shouting)
Henriette! Bring me...
HENRIETTE
(stomping her foot)
Non!
She breaks away from Osmane, grabs a cloak,
and rushes to and then through the open door.
COURBET
Henriette!
He hastens after her. Osmane steps to the doorway
and looks downward, after them. He turns to Michel and his two
comrades, still posed on the dais. He shrugs and grins at them,
they grin back. He cocks his head and raises a finger to them
to hold still, and picks up a sketchbook.. MICHEL slides the
rifle off her shoulder and places it carefully across the platform,
then stands erect, smiles down at the young Guards, and tenderly
places a hand on the shoulder of each. Osmane begins to sketch.
FADE OUT
After the defeat of the Commune, Courbet "was
imprisoned and condemned to pay for its reconstruction. He fled
to Vevey, Switzerland, in 1873, where he continued to paint until
his death on December 31, 1877." From bio.
For images of some of his paintings (including one of his studio,
much grander than the one imagined here) see the Web
Museum
If you read French, you'll find background information
and more images here about La
Commune de Paris (among many other pages on the web).
La
démolition de la colonne Vendôme