Helvetia

I suspect that Helvetia is but an allegorical figure similar to
"JohnBull" or "America" (see US-Sc #573 $5.oo ).
..
Somewhere around 1800 there was a "Helvetic Republic" formed.
..
Charlie Jensen



Live right,
Eat right,
Exercise ... ... ... Die anyway !

On Sun, 3 Aug 2003 15:57:56 -0400, "Frank Emanuel"
wrote:


wrote in message
...
I suspect that Helvetia is but an allegorical figure similar to
"JohnBull" or "America" (see US-Sc #573 $5.oo ).
.
Somewhere around 1800 there was a "Helvetic Republic" formed.
.

Yeah I got the historical part about Helvetia being the Roman name for what
became Switzerland. It is the warrior I want to know about. Is it from a
legend, was it part of their heraldry? Was it created from a famous
painting? That sort of information. The more information the better as I
want to use it to fill the facing pages for the 1857-1907 issues. Prior to
that I have 3 pages on the history of the Swiss flag (white cross on red
field), and just facing the 1907 William Tell's Son and Helvetia issues I
have the legend of William Tell. I am also thinking of some sort of
information about the variations in the William Tell's son stamps - but the
variations follow in my album anyway.

Frank

Frank:

Like Britannia, different allegories of Helvetia have been used
over the years. There is no one official portrait of Helvetia.
As I see it, the criteria is that she is female and connected
with the Swiss arms or flag.

Helvetia = Switzerland. So called from the Helvetii,
a powerful Celtic people who dwelt in the western part
of Switzerland during the time of Julius Caesar.

Blair






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"TC" wrote in message
...
Like Britannia, different allegories of Helvetia have been used
over the years. There is no one official portrait of Helvetia.
As I see it, the criteria is that she is female and connected
with the Swiss arms or flag.

Maybe then I should go after the origins of allegories. What gave the people
of the late 1800's a strong sense of iconography like this? I would imagine
it comes from the church primarily - but the allegories I see on stamps are
more oriented towards national identity, moreso than religious identity.
Britannia, France's Sower, Helvetia, etc.

Any insights along those lines?

Blair thanks for the images - I had two of them already but not the
styalized one (not sure if it fits what I want to put together unless I want
to talk about a modern perspective on an old practice (how the meaning is
obviously lost or skewed).

Frank

Frank Emanuel wrote:
...........
Maybe then I should go after the origins of allegories. What gave the people
of the late 1800's a strong sense of iconography like this? I would imagine
it comes from the church primarily - but the allegories I see on stamps are
more oriented towards national identity, moreso than religious identity.
Britannia, France's Sower, Helvetia, etc.

Any insights along those lines?


I've been vaguely interested in this for years but have found it hard to
sort out my search terms to get useful results.

Some observations:

Britannia was discussed in this newsgroup a while back. Search Google
Groups for:
"Q: First actress to appear on a stamp" as the subject (c. Aug. 2001).

Whilst lots of countries have their national allegories, many do not (as
far as I know). The above thread made it clear that the idea of a human
figure personifying a country/race/nation was around in Roman times and
used on coins.

Things were rather different in Ancient Greece where, for example,
Athena was NOT an allegory of Athens; rather Athens was named for the
goddess Athena who was expected to keep a special eye out for the
citizens of that city. Easy to see how she could be mistaken for an
allegory by an outside observer...

The concept fell from favour after the Romans but was revived during the
Renaissance in Europe (16th century) when interest developed in all
things classical. However, the real kicker (I hypothesize mightily) came
in the 19th century when a number of factors came together to make
national allegories, along with others representing peace, justice,
victory, liberty, etc., commonplace:

1. The interest in things classical peaked with strong classical
elements in both architecture and sculpture.

2. A rash of revolutions resulting in the replacement of elitist
governments with various forms of democracy. This led to a demand for
many new public buildings for legislatures, law courts, etc.

3. Probably related to (2) was an increase in the sense of national
identity at this time.

4. The industrial revolution meant that there was plenty of money
available for the construction of very imposing buildings. These were
typically designed to instil a sense of awe and the inclusion of
statuary and/or painting would be quite appropriate.

Bearing in mind the above points, any artist out for a good government
assignment couldn't fail if he proposed a painting depicting Helvetia,
Britannia, or whatever looking into the distance (future), prepared for
anything (spear for attack, shield for defence), and demanding total
loyalty and support. Clothe the figure in some modestly sexy outfit
(standard classical robes look good) and you have a contract! Formal
representations of the figure appear everywhere (as well as on coins and
stamps) and the whole concept soon becomes firmly established.

Actually, a good allegory rather takes the place of a monarch as a
unifying force and an inspiration to its people without the downside of
having human traits that diminish general respect (eg. madness, greed,
selfishness, promiscuity, nepotism, nastiness, etc.).

National allegories that spring to mind a

England: "Britannia"
France: "Marianne"
Germany: "Germania"
Switzerland: "Helvetia"
South Africa: "Hope" (close relative to Britannia, I would say)

"Uncle Sam" (USA) does not quite fit as an allegory in the traditional
sense because he is used to personify the US government rather than the
nation - the two are not quite the same.

For a while, South American countries were quite keen on more universal
themes such as "Liberty". New Zealand has used depictions of "Hygeia"
(Health) on its semi-postals.

As far as I know, the only country that makes an effort to keep up with
the national allegory concept is France with Marianne. I don't know if
there is a Marianne Dept. in the French Government, but new models are
selected every now and again for an official portrait (I gather).

Judging from Blair's pictures, it would appear that maybe Helvetia is
being kept up to date too.

Hopefully someone can at least add to the list on national figures.

All the best,
Bob Watson

The word "allegory" is being misused in this thread. An allegory is not a
single figure like Britannia or Helvetia or Germania, but is instead an
extended metaphor, story, or description which conveys a moral lesson.

The best known allegories are found in Aesop's Fables, stories in which
animals take on human traits to teach a moral. I think that figures like
Britannia, etc. are better described as symbolic figures. This of course
doesn't change the direction of the thread.

I wonder whether other nations have similar symbolic figures commonly shown
on stamps. I certainly can't think of any.

Bob

From: Bob Watson
Organization: Bell Sympatico
Newsgroups: rec.collecting.stamps.discuss
Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2003 20:27:25 -0500
Subject: Helvetia

Frank Emanuel wrote:
...........
Maybe then I should go after the origins of allegories. What gave the people
of the late 1800's a strong sense of iconography like this? I would imagine
it comes from the church primarily - but the allegories I see on stamps are
more oriented towards national identity, moreso than religious identity.
Britannia, France's Sower, Helvetia, etc.

Any insights along those lines?


I've been vaguely interested in this for years but have found it hard to
sort out my search terms to get useful results.

Some observations:

Britannia was discussed in this newsgroup a while back. Search Google
Groups for:
"Q: First actress to appear on a stamp" as the subject (c. Aug. 2001).

Whilst lots of countries have their national allegories, many do not (as
far as I know). The above thread made it clear that the idea of a human
figure personifying a country/race/nation was around in Roman times and
used on coins.

Things were rather different in Ancient Greece where, for example,
Athena was NOT an allegory of Athens; rather Athens was named for the
goddess Athena who was expected to keep a special eye out for the
citizens of that city. Easy to see how she could be mistaken for an
allegory by an outside observer...

The concept fell from favour after the Romans but was revived during the
Renaissance in Europe (16th century) when interest developed in all
things classical. However, the real kicker (I hypothesize mightily) came
in the 19th century when a number of factors came together to make
national allegories, along with others representing peace, justice,
victory, liberty, etc., commonplace:

1. The interest in things classical peaked with strong classical
elements in both architecture and sculpture.

2. A rash of revolutions resulting in the replacement of elitist
governments with various forms of democracy. This led to a demand for
many new public buildings for legislatures, law courts, etc.

3. Probably related to (2) was an increase in the sense of national
identity at this time.

4. The industrial revolution meant that there was plenty of money
available for the construction of very imposing buildings. These were
typically designed to instil a sense of awe and the inclusion of
statuary and/or painting would be quite appropriate.

Bearing in mind the above points, any artist out for a good government
assignment couldn't fail if he proposed a painting depicting Helvetia,
Britannia, or whatever looking into the distance (future), prepared for
anything (spear for attack, shield for defence), and demanding total
loyalty and support. Clothe the figure in some modestly sexy outfit
(standard classical robes look good) and you have a contract! Formal
representations of the figure appear everywhere (as well as on coins and
stamps) and the whole concept soon becomes firmly established.

Actually, a good allegory rather takes the place of a monarch as a
unifying force and an inspiration to its people without the downside of
having human traits that diminish general respect (eg. madness, greed,
selfishness, promiscuity, nepotism, nastiness, etc.).

National allegories that spring to mind a

England: "Britannia"
France: "Marianne"
Germany: "Germania"
Switzerland: "Helvetia"
South Africa: "Hope" (close relative to Britannia, I would say)

"Uncle Sam" (USA) does not quite fit as an allegory in the traditional
sense because he is used to personify the US government rather than the
nation - the two are not quite the same.

For a while, South American countries were quite keen on more universal
themes such as "Liberty". New Zealand has used depictions of "Hygeia"
(Health) on its semi-postals.

As far as I know, the only country that makes an effort to keep up with
the national allegory concept is France with Marianne. I don't know if
there is a Marianne Dept. in the French Government, but new models are
selected every now and again for an official portrait (I gather).

Judging from Blair's pictures, it would appear that maybe Helvetia is
being kept up to date too.

Hopefully someone can at least add to the list on national figures.

All the best,
Bob Watson

Pierre Courtiade a écrit :


Now at 5 am here in Paris, I deserve a nice expresso coffe ;-)

Ooops !
Coffee !!!

Pierre

"Bob Ingraham" wrote in message
...
The word "allegory" is being misused in this thread. An allegory is not a
single figure like Britannia or Helvetia or Germania, but is instead an
extended metaphor, story, or description which conveys a moral lesson.

Bob,

In this case the term allegory is from other reading I have done on such
figures. I am assuming that the reason for the use of this term is that the
image is a metaphor for the country, focused on values and inspiring
national spirit. In fact my dictionary indicates that this is valid in that
allegory also means loosly any symbolic representation in literature or art
(Funk & Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary - closest one at hand).

Frank

"Bob Watson" wrote in message
...


National allegories that spring to mind a

England: "Britannia"
France: "Marianne"
Germany: "Germania"
Switzerland: "Helvetia"
South Africa: "Hope" (close relative to Britannia, I would say)


Great post Bob. Would anyone like to add to this list of national
allegories. I know Pierre added the Eagle for the US, I have to think about
that. I am feeling a page coming on which highlights famous national
allegories (I will likely stick to personifications though).

Frank

Pierre Courtiade wrote:
Bob Watson wrote :


.............
National allegories that spring to mind a

England: "Britannia"
France: "Marianne"
Germany: "Germania"
Switzerland: "Helvetia"
South Africa: "Hope" (close relative to Britannia, I would say)

"Uncle Sam" (USA) does not quite fit as an allegory in the traditional
sense because he is used to personify the US government rather than
the nation - the two are not quite the same.


Bob,

Thanks for your very interesting answer.

For the US I would have thought this role was taken by the Eagle which
appears on many stamps ?

The Bald Eagle seems to be the current American Allegorical figure, but
in the past it was Liberty, who appeared on many American coins before
the we switched to the deification of various dead politicians.

= Eric

Italy: "Italia" (Scott 216, 220, 225, 228)



In article , "Frank Emanuel"
wrote:

"Bob Watson" wrote in message
...


National allegories that spring to mind a

England: "Britannia"
France: "Marianne"
Germany: "Germania"
Switzerland: "Helvetia"
South Africa: "Hope" (close relative to Britannia, I would say)


Great post Bob. Would anyone like to add to this list of national
allegories. I know Pierre added the Eagle for the US, I have to think about
that. I am feeling a page coming on which highlights famous national
allegories (I will likely stick to personifications though).

Frank