1794 is the year of the death of Maximilien Robespierre (1758 – 1794), the meteoric Revolutionary lawyer-politician and chief architect of the Reign of Terror. It also marks the beginning of the end of the French Revolution. Robespierre, an ardent student of the writings of Rousseau, became known as “The Incorruptible” because of his steadfast adherence to a belief in equality, pure democratic institutions, the eradication of poverty, and universal justice. Robespierre’s ideal was to establish a “Republic of Virtue,” in which political sovereignty would be rooted in direct democracy unpolluted by other influences. However, Robespierre’s unbridled use of extreme measures to ensure the success of his vision led to his downfall and ultimate death by guillotine. Soon France, too, would stumble and return to bourgeois values, political corruption and military failure. The vessel here, while bold and handsome in its classical form, is but an empty – and cautionary – commemorative urn. The ivy, ever-green, replacing its contents, pleads for the immortality of Robespierre’s idealism.