As one antiquarian noted in 1852, with regard to successive editions of the
museum catalogue, ‘the earliest are written in a heathen, democratic lan-
guage; succeeding ones in an imperial, philosophic style; and the most recent
in a devout, monarchical prose. These variations, dictated by circumstance,
lend the diVerent editions a genuine fascination’ (quoted in McClelland 1994:
194). Lenoir could not have done otherwise if the museum was to survive
through the changing circumstances. The material exhibited was considered
at times counter-revolutionary 2 (Haskell 1993: 241). Thus, he had to convince
others that his intentions were not political, but still very much informed by
the enlightened mood. He had to write petitions like the following to the
Committee of Public Instruction in 1794:
Please believe me, Citizens, that it is not in order to honour the memory of Franc ̧ois
1 erthat I ask permission to rebuild the monument I am about to describe to you.
I forget his morals along with his ashes. I am concerned only with the progress of art
and education.
(Lenoir in Haskell 1993: 241).The exhibition started in an introductory room, where some ‘Celtic’ altars
were displayed. Nevertheless, pre-medieval antiquities were the exception.
The inclusion of prehistoric monuments in the display demanded by presti-
gious scholars such as Pierre Jean Baptiste Legrand d’Aussy (1737–1800)
(Pomian 1996: 41) did not actually take place, despite Legrand’s disappoint-
ment at the lack of knowledge of ‘the monuments that lie at the core of our
archaeology, of the primitive history of our nation, our country, and our arts’
(in Pomian 1996: 39). Legrand was a member of the National Institute of
Sciences and Arts, an institution that replaced the old academies. He had
suggested the need for a permit to excavate archaeological sites, and the
establishment of a national inventory, an initiative that would only be realized
much later. Despite the paucity of pre-medieval items, the museum did not
oppose their study, as shown by the loan of its premises for the inaugural
meeting of the Acade ́mie Celtique in 1805 (Haskell 1993: 367). This academy,
in addition to the study of French ethnography, had as its aim ‘to describe,
explain, and have engravings made of the ancient monuments of the
Gauls’ (in Pomian 1996: 39). The increasing importance of the study of
2 Yet, images were used and perceived in contradictory ways. Jill Cook (2004: 187–8)
mentions the development of the image of the noble aboriginal patriot (a mirror image of the
noble savage used beyond Europe) during the periods of the American and French revolutions
and the Napoleonic Wars. ThisWgure, always a man, represented a patriot eitherWghting for the
liberty of the fatherland against foreign aggressors or submissive at the feet of St Paul or, even, in
repressive counter-revolutionary stance (the latter in William Blake’sJerusalem, the Emanation
of the Giant Albion, 1804–20).
320 National Archaeology in Europe