Banknote Billet France 100 francs Paul Cézanne 1997

The 100 francs Cézanne banknote was issued in 1997 by the Banque de France. It belongs to series E and is one of the last large-format French banknotes before the transition to the euro. This note pays tribute to Paul Cézanne, a French painter born in Aix-en-Provence in 1839 and who died in 1906, a major figure of Post-Impressionism and a precursor of modern art.

The obverse of the banknote features a portrait of Paul Cézanne, accompanied by elements characteristic of his pictorial work, including a representation of Mont Sainte-Victoire, an emblematic subject of many of the painter's canvases. The dominant tones of the note revolve around shades of green, blue and ochre, evoking the chromatic palette typical of Cézanne's artistic universe. The reverse echoes these same visual references, incorporating details drawn from his most celebrated pictorial compositions.

The banknote incorporates several security features characteristic of Banque de France issues of that era, including a watermark, a security thread embedded in the paper, and optically variable ink effects. The typography and micro-printing also contribute to protecting the document against counterfeiting.

This banknote weighs 1 gram, in line with the standards for cotton-paper banknotes used by the Banque de France for its issues during this period. The face value of 100 francs represented an intermediate denomination within the French monetary system of the time.

Withdrawn from circulation when France adopted the single European currency in 2002, this banknote now stands as a testament to the cultural policy of the Banque de France, which chose to celebrate great French artists and intellectuals through its fiduciary issues.