FRENCH, LATE 18TH CENTURY

Roland served as a leader of the Girondin faction during the French Revolution, followed this path largely at the direction of his wife, famed revolutionary, intellectual, and salon hostess Marie-Jeanne née Phlippon, called 'Manon' (1754-1793). He fled the Jacobin coup d’état, but his wife was not as fortunate. She was arrested and sent to the guillotine where she uttered her famous last words “O Liberty, what crimes are committed in thy name!” Upon hearing of her execution, Roland committed suicide at the age of 59, tying a note to his chest that he could no longer live in a world stained by enemies before running a sword through his heart.