Jean-Ignace-Isidore Grandville
1833
ink
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Dominant colour
Descente dans les Ateliers de la Liberté de la presse (Raid on the Workshops of the Freedom of the Press) is a 1833 ink by Jean-Ignace-Isidore Grandville, a Romanticism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This chaotic scene shows a group of people smashing a printing press in a cluttered workshop. A woman in a white dress clutches a pile of broken type, while men swing clubs and tear papers off the walls. The room is packed with printing equipment, scattered sheets, and signs—one even reads "Liberté de la Presse." Everyone looks angry or panicked, and the press itself is being destroyed right in the center. The title hints this is about attacking a press that printed free speech—likely a protest against censorship. The artist used sharp lines and exaggerated expressions to make the chaos feel real. Want to know more? Try looking up lithography, the printing technique used to make this image.
Jean-Ignace-Isidore Grandville (1829–1829) was an artist.
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