Medallion bearing a portrait of Robespierre (François-Théodore Ruhier, circa 1835)
We arrive at the medallion [...] of the engraver François-Théodore Ruhier (born in 1808, died in 1884). It is a piece of primary importance, through its dimensions as much as through its execution. It is oval and measures [twenty centimetres by twenty-three centimetres]. In profile facing to the right, the physiognomy of Robespierre is engraved, with dignity, with solemnity, with an indomitable energy, with a stoicism [that is] superior to both good and bad fortune. « This is one of the most lively images of Robespierre », M. Armand Dayot wrote, « maybe the most definitive, the one which summarises the sharp reality of his traits in the most energetic manner, and reflects best the intrepid will of his soul. »
Around the bust, from the left to the right, one reads these words of the Incorruptible: « Nous voulons que la France devienne, le modèle des nations, l'effroi des oppresseurs, la consolation des opprimés. » Under the bust, these verses of Robespierre himself are engraved:
Le seul tourment du juste à son heure dernière,
Et le seul dont alors il sera déchiré,
C'est de voir en mourant la pâte et sombre envie
Distiller sur son nom l'opprobre et l'infamie,
De mourir pour le peuple, et d'en être abhorré!
Certainly, all portraits of Robespierre impress, but one has to acknowledge that this medallion leaves the strongest impression, the one that remains engraved in one’s memory, and which one never forgets again. It is the Robespierre of 9 Thermidor who is in front of us here.
Les portraits de Robespierre (Hippolyte Buffenoir), chapter II, in: Annales révolutionnaires, vol. 1, p. 461ff.