This print is an illustration to a group of prints depicting events during the French Revolution. The prints with accompanying text were originally sold separately between 1791-4, then were issued as a set of three bound volumes 'Collection complète des tableaux historiques de la révolution française' in 1804. The authors of the work were all actively involved in the early stages of the revolution, as was the artist of this print, Jean-Louis Prieur.

This scene shows the taking of the ’Tennis Court Oath’ in the early days of the revolution. The Three Estates (Clergy, Nobility and Public) were to meet to discuss solutions to the many problems threatening France, such as bankruptcy, famine and gross inequality in wealth. Representatives of the Third Estate found the assembly rooms locked by orders of the King. Seeing this as a despotic act, they gathered in a nearby tennis court and made an oath not to separate until a constitution had been declared. Among those present were Mirabeau, Sieyes, Robespierre and Dr Guillotin. Making such an declaration in the King’s absence was a defiance of royal authority and became the first step towards eventual Republicanism.