Title
Aerostatic experiment on 1st Decembr 1783 at the Tuileries
Caption
Aerostatic experiment on 1st Decembr 1783 at the Tuileries
Gouache with frame (30.5 x 25 cm)
Muller-Quênot Collection
Info+
On 1st December 1783 at half-past one, a shot was fired to announce the beginning of the experiment. However nothing happened. The balloon did not take off into the sky and disappointment gradually began to spread through the crowd. Charles approached Etienne Montgolfier, who was present at the experiment. Charles wanted to make up for Etienne's previous public humiliation at the Champs de Mars, where he had been refused access on 27th August. He held a thin cord which held back a pilot balloon, one metre and sixty centimetres in diameter. He held the cord out to Etienne and asked him to let go of the little balloon himself saying, "It's up to you to find us a new way up into the sky." The balloon rose up into the air, indicating the direction of the wind.
At forty minutes past one, a second shot was fired to announce the departure of the large balloon. Charles the physicist and Robert, the youngest of the Montgolfier brothers, took their place in the gondola shaped like a cart. The balloon then rose majestically above the applauding crowd.
Date
18th century
Credit line
Photo12/Association Muller Quenot Rosheim
Reference
MQR10A00_168
License type
Rights managed
Available size
37,3Mb (2,7Mb) / 11,0in x 13,2in / 3304 x 3948 (300dpi)