Liberty Leading the People by Eugéne Delacroix

Liberty Leading the People by Eugéne Delacroix

Eugéne Delacroix was known for his use of color in his paintings. He apprenticed with landscape artists when he first started painting and then turned those skills into his own to “develop a unique and memorable approach to color” (Artble). One of his most famous paintings is the Liberty Leading the People, which was painted in 1830. This was painted because of the July Revolution, also known as the “Three Glorious Days” or “Les Trois Glorieuses” in French. This revolution took place because the French people wanted to overthrow King Charles X since he was trying to amend everything from the last revolution that the people of France had worked hard to gain.

The painting shows a woman who is holding the flag of the revolution and a musket while her dress is falling down and she is barefoot. This woman symbolizes Liberty during the fight that the men are caught up in. The pile of corpses that Liberty walks over can symbolize a pedestal that lifts her up so all the men can see her. Some writers have said that Liberty could symbolize a goddess because of her beauty and her position in the revolution.

You will also notice the men around Liberty. They are not all from the same class, so that shows how wide spread this revolution was. It went between classes, which means that Charles X must have really angered an astounding size of the population of France. There have been discussions on whether or not the man in the top hat is actually Delacroix himself, but as of right now there is no evidence to point to that man being him.

This painting in itself is really fascinating in the way that Delacroix uses the colors to draw a person in. The eye goes automatically to Liberty and the flag because it is in the center of the painting and the flag has the bright red on it. Red, in many flags, symbolizes blood, while the white symbolizes purity and the blue symbolizes freedom or patriotism. The eyes are then drawn to the man that is laying on the ground looking up at Liberty and then continues on to the other men. The interesting thing about the men are their eyes. If a person looks closely, they can see how the eyes of the men are a little nervous, but more fierce then anything.

Eugéne Delacroix did his part in the revolution by painting this captivating piece of artwork. Even if he wasn’t actually fighting in the revolution, this painting shows his patriotism for his country. It also keeps a part of history alive and shows us that it really did happen.

Columnist: C. J. Akin

Editor: Alyssa Banham

Works Cited

“July 28: Liberty Leading the People.” Artble. N.p., 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2013.