Art is influenced by socio-political events and historical conditions; consequently, art is a reaction to society’s changes and transformations. Eugene Delacroix painted Liberty Leading the People in 1830. The 18th century was known as the Age of Enlightenment as it brought about the quest for knowledge, industrialism, Neo-Classical art and physical materialism. Romanticism was created as a reaction to these changes and events. Delacroix utilizes Romanticism in his painting as it reflected the current art style. War is the ideal vehicle for Romanticism as it combines terror, violence and heroism. This can be seen in Liberty Leading the People as it depicts the July Revolution of 1830. Like other Romantic art, Liberty Leading the People has a sublime quality as it communicates feelings of grandeur, intensity and greatness. Sublime is usually incorporated into Romantic paintings of nature as seen in The Wreck of the Hope and The Eruption of Vesuvius. The painting involves dark colors and bold brush strokes. It rejects the precise drawing style associated with French academic art of the time period. Liberty Leading the People illustrates artistic preference and in turn society’s values during the Romantic period.
Liberty Leading the People also acts as a propaganda piece. Eugene Delacroix created this painting shortly after the July Revolution of 1830 where Charles X was overthrown as head of the monarchy in France. The painting allegorically symbolizes the conquest of the French people. The focal point of the painting is a loosely clothed woman holding the French revolutionary flag and a musket. In my opinion, she symbolizes the purity of the revolutionary cause and the French campaign for liberty and change. The woman personifies these ideals that French citizens held so highly. The revolution was brutal but in the painting French citizens advance seemingly unchallenged, stepping over the French army with ease. Liberty Leading the People glorifies French society’s victory, depicting the revolutionary’s view of an easy success. The painting shows a dockworker (far left), white-collar gentlemen (middle) and young boy (far right) working together to take back their country. The painting highlights the remarkable collaboration of all male French citizens from different classes and walks of life. They march together, as one. The entire painting glorifies war as a means to perpetuate French pride. The painting is structured as a pyramid, with the woman who personifies the values of French society, at the top. The painting reflects the radical idea that instigated the French Revolution, we all must look up to the ideals of liberty.
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