Liberty Leading the People (1830) – Eugène Delacroix

‘La Liberté guidant le peuple’, known in English as ‘Liberty Leading the People’ is an oil painting by Eugène Delacroix, a French artist in the vanguard of the Romantic movement. Painted in 1830, ‘Liberty Leading the People’ is Delacroix’s paean to the victory of the French Revolution. He emphasised the importance of the painting in a letter to his brother, declaring “although I may not have fought for my country, at least I shall have painted for her”. Many details in ‘Liberty Leading the People’ command our attention; most conspicuously of all, the figure of Liberty herself dressed in ragged clothing, who critics describe as having a homely figure and a gallant bearing. On her head is the Phrygian cap (Le bonnet phrygian), a cap made of red cloth that was conventionally worn by newly-emancipated slaves as a symbol of their freedom, which became the favoured accessory among French revolutionaries. With one one hand, she raises the tri-coloured flag of the French revolution, which came to constitute the palette of the French national flag that is used to this day. In her other hand, she holds a bayonetted musket. Behind her advance the revolutionary fighters, who are leading the public across a field strewn with debris and the fallen bodies of the enemy. Shrouded in smoke, the ruins of Paris are dimly visible in the background. The representation of Liberty in Delacroix’s painting has since become a symbol of France and the French Republic known as Marianne, who is depicted on coins, paintings and the Great Seal of France. ‘Liberty Leading the People’, one of Delacroix’s most famous paintings, is inspired by real historical events, and though Delacroix never participated in the revolution itself, he honours the ideals, courage and perseverance of the radicals and French public, who ultimately triumphed against the decrepit feudal regime and established the first French republic.