Liberty leading the people Flashcards
Subject
Depicts the July Revolution of 1830 that replaced Charles X with Louis Philipe.
History painting
Delacroix borrows the academic language of history painting (large scale, pyramidal composition) for a contemporary subject, herosing the revolutionaries.
Rejection of Neoclassicism
Rejects the ideas of rationality and order promoted by Neoclassicism and the Age of Enlightenment. Antithesis of the triumphant war narrative in David’S Oath of the Horatii, instead places emphasis on individual liberty and emotion.
Influence of the French Romantic style
Reflected here in the loose application of paint where freedom of colour takes precedence, spontaneous poses and dynamic composition.
Liberty/Marianne
Represents liberty or ‘Marianne’ – the symbol of the French Revolution. Her exposed breasts and classical clothing distinguish her from the other figures and suggest that she is an allegorical. Reinforced by the repetition of white, blue and red in her clothing (a reference to the tricolour flag) as well as her Phrygian cap – a classical symbol of freedom.
A revolution for everyone
The factory worker (apron and working shirt), middle class gentleman (top hat and hunting shotgun) and the young student (black beret) in the foreground represent the unity of social classes and the idea that everybody will benefit from this revolution.
Dead bodies
Unidealised and dramatic depiction of war, Delacroix depicts both dead revolutionaries and Monarchist soldiers. The man in his nightgown in the foreground shows the cruelty of war and the lack of glory in death. Different from sanitised, Neoclassical depictions of war (David’s Oath of the Horatti).
Barricades
Piles of rubble and planks of wood are remnants of the barricades the revolutionaries have constructed on the streets of Paris.
Notre Dame
Depicted in the background. The symbol of ‘old Paris’/the monarchy with the tricolore –the flag of the French Revolution- significantly flying atop one of the towers. Royalist troops gather underneath to show that the battle is not yet won.
Revolutionary spirit
Delacroix captures the revolutionary climate that emerged in Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries as Enlightenment thinkers rejected the Divine Right of Kings, leading to the French Revolution in 1789 and the American Revolution of 1783.
Reaction to the Age of Enlightenment
However, Romantic thinkers and artists also rejected the emphasis on rationality and reason promoted during the Age of Enlightenment, instead placing emphasis on imagination and intuition in the search for individual rights and liberty.
July Revolution
The events of the July Revolution were the result of the unpopularity of the Bourbon monarch Charles X, with criticism focussing on upon abuses of royal power, poor harvests and urban poverty. The revolution replaced him with the initially more popular self-styled ‘Citizen King’ Louis Phillipe I.
Delacroix
Delacroix was the established leader of the Romantic School. He started the paintingafter witnessing the violent escalation of the protests. There is speculation that his dependence on royal commissions prevented him from taking part in the rebellion (“if I can’t fight for my country, at least I can paint for her”).
Loose brushstrokes
Represents the freedom of the people shown fighting.
Red, white and blue
The colours of the Tricolor are repeated throughout the painting in the clouds and the clothing.
