The Nation’s Temple, 1791

Abstract This chapter reinterprets Quatremère’s vision in spring 1791 to transform Soufflot’s church of Sainte-Geneviève into the temple of the nation. Quatremère’s vision guided the only large-scale architectural project during the Revolution, but his ideas are overshadowed by the Panthéon’s later republican and anti-clerical associations. The chapter therefore revisits the project’s origins, showing how Quatremère defended the Constituent Assembly’s demand to repurpose the church. It explains his vision for modest architectural changes, a wooded Elysium around the temple, and decorative sculptures that shunned direct allusions to recent events and instead taught citizens to obey the law and celebrate the gradual progress of knowledge and the arts. Although the Directory of the Department of Paris endorsed Quatremère’s plan to save Soufflot’s masterpiece by making measured changes, the chapter concludes by showing how political developments in summer 1791 radicalized expectations for the nation’s temple.