Posted 08/03/2022 2:27 pm
Yes, a lovely plaque. Here is another auction with the OP plaque as part of a lot: https://www.osenat.com/lot/11013/2169031npp=10000&
The text attributes the OP plaque to 1916, so it honors the fallen polytechnicians in WW1. Apart from the text, it is the same as the 1914 plaque mentioned by Spence. That plaque commemorated the polytechnicians who defended Paris in 1814, at the end of the Napoleonic wars. The plaques show a statue, "Le Conscrit de 1814," ("The Conscript of 1814") which was raised outside the L'ecole polytechnique for the occasion in 1914. The school is formally a military school (but trains engineers for both civilian and military service) and many of its students have served in wars.
The text attributes the OP plaque to 1916, so it honors the fallen polytechnicians in WW1. Apart from the text, it is the same as the 1914 plaque mentioned by Spence. That plaque commemorated the polytechnicians who defended Paris in 1814, at the end of the Napoleonic wars. The plaques show a statue, "Le Conscrit de 1814," ("The Conscript of 1814") which was raised outside the L'ecole polytechnique for the occasion in 1914. The school is formally a military school (but trains engineers for both civilian and military service) and many of its students have served in wars.
