Paris in Ruins explores the lives and work of artists in the context of the turbulence of 19th-century France. The following dates and figures are key to understanding this history.

• July 14th, 1789: Following many years of unrest, revolutionaries in Paris rise up against the monarchy led by King Louis XVI and Queen Marie-Antoinette. They storm the jail at the Bastille.

• September 22nd, 1792: The King and Queen are deposed and the First French Republic is established.

• May 18th, 1804: Napoléon Bonaparte, a leading general during the Revolution, declares himself Emperor of France from the Château in Saint-Cloud, just outside of Paris. The First French Republic ends and the First Empire begins.

• 1814: Napoléon is exiled and the Bourbon line (the same royal family as Louis XVI) is returned to the throne. Louis XVIII and Charles X, Louis XVI’s brothers, serve consecutively. Their claim to the throne is supported by a faction known as the Legitimists.

• 1830: Following the July Revolution, King Louis-Philippe of Orléans ascends to the throne of France. He is dubbed “King of the French” and seeks to rule via a constitutional monarchy. His claim to the throne is supported by a faction known as the Orléanists.