Walking through the Lourve Museum, I previously knew that it had a reputation for being one of the largest museums in the world but, I could have never expected the sheer amount of artwork in the Lourve’s collection. It was almost overwhelming when there was another piece of art to carefully observe and analyze everywhere you looked. Walking through the French wing of the museum, my eyes were captivated as soon as I saw “Liberty Leading the People” by Eugène Delacroix.
Looking closer at the details of the painting, I noticed that it was made in 1830 during a time of revolution. As this class is about revolutions, I wanted to analyze several elements of this piece and what meaning they may intend to emulate. What details in “Liberty Leading the People” symbolize the ideals of the French Revolution of 1830?
The woman, the central figure in this painting, is wearing a red Phrygian cap. This cap symbolizes the movement for liberty and freedom in the French Revolution of 1789. I recognized this cap from the movie we had watched earlier in the course, “One Nation, One King.” The many men who wear this cap work together in their uprising against the tyrannical French monarchy and government. Continually, this woman is stepping over the corpses of other revolutionaries and holds the tri-color French flag. These aspects of the artwork all symbolize the movement towards liberty. The woman is stepping over these corpses, an allegory of revolutionaries who have come before, recognizing the past uprisings of the French people. She also holds the tri-color flag of France, representing “liberty, equality, and fraternity.” To be completely honest, I thought that this flag had always been the flag of France however, Ann informed all of us that during this time the flag was just white. The white color symbolized the monarchy, emphasizing the importance of the tri-color flag in the French revolutionary movement.
The most interesting detail in this artwork for me was the diverse group of soldiers represented by Delacroix. You can see a man with a newsboy cap and grimy clothing, a man in a top hat and bow tie, and a little boy holding his pistol in the air. The different classes of French revolutionaries, all surrounding the women, represent the whole of France as a part of the movement. The Bourgeois and the Proletarian. The workers, the rich, and the next generation all work as a collective effort towards the ideals of the revolution: “liberty, equality, and fraternity.” This aspect was significant to a large extent because it represents all of the people, past and present, who were involved in the various uprisings in France.
Overall, all of these symbols work together to represent the revolutionaries’ fight for freedom in the 1830 uprising in France. Delacroix’s use of these symbols in “Liberty Leading the People” not only commemorate this specific revolution but also reflects the broader struggles for liberty throughout French history.
Revolutionary Cities 