Liberty Leading the People,Eugene Delacroix, 1830, after the restoration.
Delacroix was aRomanticist, painting scenes deeply impacted by Neoclassicism.
Born in 1798, he grew up in post-revolutionary France as Napoleon took power and waged war across Europe.
“Liberty Leading the People,”Eugène Delacroix, 1830, after the restoration. (Photo:Wikimedia Commons)
In 1815, when the young artist was a teen, Napoleon met his end and exile.
He was replaced by a re-establishedBourbon dynasty.
These new laws limited freedoms which, since their first revolution, the French had become accustomed.
Crowds view paintings in the Louvre, as depicted byGiuseppe Castiglione in 1861, entitled “View of the Grand Salon Carré in the Louvre.” (Photo:Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)
In response, the French rebelled, deposing their King Charles X after only three days.
In his place was installed King Louis-Philippe, from a rival royal house, as a constitutional monarch.
The work features a Marianne, a woman in neo-classical garb symbolizing France, charging forward with the flag.
Behind her is a pyramid of people fighting for freedom in the streets.
It has restored my good spirits.
However, years of dirt and layers of varnish have obscured Delacroix’s exceptional colors.
For a long time, it was believed that Marianne wore yellow robes.
However, recent restorations commenced in September 2023 have exposed the robe’s true colorsgray with gold accents.
Each set of eyes can be drawn into the mass of figures in new and exciting ways.
