French guillotine exhibition opens 33 years after the last head fell

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Clair has pointed out that when it was suggested by Joseph Ignace Guillotin in 1789, the idea of making mechanical decapitation the uniform means of France's execution stemmed not from barbarity but from a desire to make death as quick and painless as possible for the victim, whether a prince or a pauper.

Hanging and hacking with hatchets were considered woefully inefficient.

"This machine was created out of humanist concerns as the least painful and most egalitarian means of death," Clair told Le Figaro, adding: "Its precision and ease of use also made it the starting point for mass industrial murders."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/16/guillotine-museum-france-paris