Premiere séance de l'institut National ; le 15 Germinal, An 4eme de la République / Girardet inv. & del. ; Berthault sculp.

Print shows a large group of men seated in two u-shaped rows along the sides and back of a large hall with a barrel ceiling and with statuary in alcoves set off by columns, a crowded third row of standing-room-only is behind the other two rows; five men wearing academic robes are seated in the foreground at left center; on the far left is a man seated at the end of the inner row and on the far right five men are seated at the other end of the inner row. In the middle distance, at center, is a dais on which is a table with three men behind it, two are seated and the man in the center, possibly Georges Cuvier, is standing and speaking.

Plate from: Collection complète des tableaux historiques de la Révolution Française. Paris : Chez Auber, 1804, no. 125.
Inscribed in pencil on lower left: Apr. 4, 1796.
Gift; Joseph Verner Reed; 1955 July 22.