The eleven

Pierre Michon is one of the most significant contemporary French writers. At the center of his new story "The Eleven," a masterfully intricate historical novella, is the most famous painting of the French Revolution, which hangs behind bulletproof glass in the Louvre and portrays eleven members of the Directory during the second year of the Reign of Terror. Michon tells the story of the painter and his family history, the eleven portrayed individuals, and how and why the artist received the commission for this painting—evocatively, meticulously, with essayistic remarks and elaborations. This particular painting, "The Eleven," Michon writes, does not merely depict history but "is" history, its horror. His narrative, both concise and virtuosic, builds a unique tension and maintains it until the surprising conclusion.