Alicia Lee

HUMA1100

Liberty Leading the People

1. The artist is Ferdinand Victor Eugne Delacroix (1798-1863). He was a French Romantic
painter. He studied at the Lyce Louis-le-Grand where he steeped himself in the classics. In 1815
he began his training with Pierre-Narcisse Gurin in the neoclassical style of Jacques-Louis
David. He left many paintings such as Massacre at Chios (1824), Death of Sardanapalus (1827),
Women of Algeria in their Apartment (1834), etc. He also decorated public buildings and
churches in Paris. (Delacroix)
2. The tile of the piece is Liberty Leading the People. The painting described a goddess Liberty
leading men during the French Revolution. She is holding the French Flag in her right hand. The
blue, white and red colors on the French Flag represent the revolutionary motto "liberty, Equality
and Brotherhood"
3. In 1789, French government was on financial crisis after supporting the American Revolution
and Seven Years War, people from working classes suffered from famine for many years.
However, the royal family and the nobility lived financially well, while raising taxes. Some
French philosophers influenced by the American Revolution enlightened on social equality. The
revolutionary war intended to make a better world (liberty) Instead; it got the king of France
Louis XVI and his queen Marie Antoinette executed, along with countless victims. The
revolution started on July 14, 1789 and ended in 1815. This particular piece of art work reflects
the period it was created in.
4. I think the intended audiences are anyone. To artists, inspirations from his work must be a
good resource to learn from. To anybody interested in the French Revolution, the painting is a
good reference to study from, as well as the period of 1830 when Liberty Leading the People was
completed.
5.
Leading of Liberty is the first piece of art work that got my attention. I was even more
fascinated at it after studying about the French Revolution. A goddess Liberty is leading men and
young boys from different social classes and marching on dead bodies while holding the French
flag in her right hand and a rifle in her left hand with her bare chest exposed. In order to further
understand the picture, I watched a couple documentary videos and read articles on the French
Revolution.
The atmosphere in the picture is dark and smoky. I believe the war has been going on for
a long time. The scene reminds me of one Christmas Eve night in Peru. Two years ago, I

visited Lima, Peru. While I was there I noticed that people enjoy fireworks on every Christmas
and New Year's Eve. The fireworks actually sound and feel like real explosions. My body got
slightly pushed back by air when a neighbor fired one. The small explosion scared me, and I ran
away inside of the house. Since then, whenever I recollect my memories of fireworks in Peru, I
imagine what being in a middle of war is like. My boyfriend who is an Iraqi War veteran said the
sound and smell of fireworks reminded him of Iraq. He was a combat engineer and handled
machine guns. His mother once told me that he had to run with his heavy machine gun under
attack. Surrounded by noise and smoke from bomb explosion, I am sure that he experienced fear
of death at least once. Smoke and flame in the painting give me impression of terror and fear of
death. During the war, the rich might have been worried if the Liberty would win. Historically,
rich people align themselves with whoever is in power in order to maintain their own wealth and
power. If the Liberty loses, they lose their status and power. The poor didnt have any status or
power to lose. Only thing they worried about was death of themselves and of their families.
There are two young men on the left and right on the painting. Between them, there are
two men. One looks like a wealthy man. Another looks like a craft man. Does it tell us all of
them fought for equality? Do the two young men know what equality meant to them? Some
noble men who were influenced by the American Revolution probably fought for liberty and
equality. Others, like Napoleon Bonaparte, fought against the hierarchy system that obstructed
their own dreams or ambition, neither for the country nor equality. In contrast, uneducated
people from working classes or innocent children who experienced famine for many years
probably fought for food to survive and to feed their families. Fighting for equality wasnt the
uneducated peoples major concern. Their major concern could have been finding food to
survive. The youth probably wanted more instant gratification than liberty during the war.
Younger generations dont think about consequences. It is maybe because they are inexperienced.
Did the revolution bring equality into France? As I mentioned above, the painting shows
people from different social classes participating in the revolutionary war. If you look close, a
noble man in black suits is holding a rifle. He could afford to get/buy the gun. But the craft man
is holding a sword. A gun can shoot a target from distance. So people who fought with guns were
most likely in less danger than people who fought with swords. I think it tells us there were still
gaps between classes even among people fighting for "equality". Even after the last king and
queen of France were executed, France was ruled by dictators such as Maximilen Robespierre
whose year of rule was consequently called the Reign of Terror and Napoleon Bonaparte who
was once an emperor. The dictators ruled France for their ambition. The dominant group or a
dictator wrote the Constitutions to maintain their power. The dead bodies Liberty is marching
upon describe the victims of the revolutionary war. Just like the painting, countless citizens and
soldiers were killed during the war. People who lost their loved ones must have agonized for life.
People from working classes who desired more from the government were identified as traitors
and executed. The leader of feminists Olympe de Gouges also was executed and other feminists
were arrested. Whom and what were the revolution for? I think the beneficiaries from the war

were people who desired to have power, not common people. People who protested to recover
monarchy got killed by the government. Even though Liberty in the painting is female, women
weren't allowed to vote until 1945. I guess Liberty in the painting symbolized Liberta an Italian
goddess, not equality for women. Maybe Delacroix is trying to tell us that the Liberty that the
French people were following was just a goddess, an illusion or a fantasy. It is idealistic but not
realistic.
Each character in the painting represents people from different social classes and tells its
audiences what they would have experienced. Before knowing what happened during the French
Revolution, I assumed it was a glorious revolution that was led by enlightened French citizens.
While comparing the painting to the history, I noticed myself reading the history from the
painting. The history of the revolution was actually more devastating than glorious. In his
painting, Delacroix didnt make anyone overly beautiful. I had an impression that his intension
was to show audiences the real meaning of the French Revolution and leave us to think of the
true meaning of liberty.
During Operation Iraqi Freedom, many Iraqis fought for Dictator Saddam Hussein in
order to not get executed. After Saddam lost his power, they turned against him and supported
the U.S. military. Also, many Iraqis were against the Operation because the meaning of freedom
they believed was different from what westerners believed. Some of them didnt even have a
concept of freedom in their heads or complained about their beautiful country being destroyed.
Humans tend to speak out about inequalities that affect groups they belong to, but neglect social
issues that dont affect them directly. I think every revolution begins by an oppressed group
fighting an oppressive power in order to gain the most basic necessities to survive. Also, in these
revolutions there are those who align themselves with the strongest power in order to survive.

Work Cited

"Eugene Delacroix Biography." Delacroix Biography. N.p., 2014. Web. 14 Sept. 2014.
<http://www.eugenedelacroix.org/biography.html>.
References on the French Revolution:
"The French Revolution." The French Revolution. Web. 15 Sept. 2014.
<http://faculty.fullerton.edu/nfitch/history110b/rev.html>.
"PBS.Napoleon" YouTube. YouTube. Web. Published on 1 March. 2012. 15 Sept. 2014.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVRP4vooztY>
"The French Revolution [Documentary] [History Channel]." YouTube. YouTube, 13 Jan. 2014.
Web. 15 Sept. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEq_lAx3ssE>.