The Day's Orders

In this highly staged composition, which he nevertheless presented as a news photograph, Camille Silvy adapted a traditional genre painting for the depiction of a topical event. In May 1859, Emperor Napoleon III led the French Army into Italy to aid the controversial Italian unification movement (and secure the region of Nice for France). To rally French citizens behind his undertaking, the emperor sent his address to the frontline troops—the “day’s orders”—instantly by electric telegraph back to Paris, where it was printed overnight and posted in the streets. Silvy staged an image of the populace gathering before a poster; two of the men, who turn to face the camera, represent the intellectual and revolutionary factions opposed to the virtual police state that characterized Paris under the emperor’s reign. The following week, the newspaper “L’illustration” printed a lithographic reproduction of the photograph, making this picture one of the earliest examples of photojournalism.