The Centenary of École Polytechnique by Dupain

This painting was commissioned by the Ministry of Education and Fine Arts and painted by Edmond Dupain, art master at École Polytechnique and official painter for the 1894 centenary. Dupain mixes allegories, symbols and historical figures in the painting, which features the founders of the institution, professors, military representatives of the time and celebrated alumni. In the center of the work, the Director can be seen presenting the Centenary Book to French President, Sadi Carnot (Year of Entry: 1857), as a symbolic gesture of the close ties shared between l’X and the governing republican power of the time.