Liberty leading the People, Eugène Delacroix,1830

Regarded as the most famous painting by the French Romantic painter, Eugene Delacroix, Liberty leading the people was painted based on the famous French Revolution of 1789 when people of the lower class in France rose up to overthrow the monarchy and establish a constitutional government. As mentioned above, the people of France were extremely dissatisfied with the French monarchy as they were stripped from economic wealth and political rights as French citizens. However, this painting particularly depicts the July Revolution of 1830, which resulted in the abdication of Charles X and the establishment of a constitutional monarchy.

In the painting, Delacroix’s use romantic style during the era is sharply represented through his application of contrasting colors to give out a vibrant impression of energy and movement. For example, his use of blue, white and especially red in the French flag, gives a vivid and electrifying sense against the broad areas of brown and gray in the background that fits well with the subject. (Alam, Nadeem, Ezine Articles)   Other contrasts within the painting are shown through the depiction of figures that fall into two categories: figures that are lying dead in the bottom part of the painting and the dynamic marching figures on the top of the painting. This composition itself denotes the main figure (woman) with the determination of the cause, and the uprising/struggle to achieve it, shown by the strides forward, which have placed her high in the picture. (Alam, Nadeem, Ezine Articles)  The woman is depicted with solidity just like of a man, and yet she is the only figure that is given this sense of significance. This aspect signifies a sense of hope and the beginning of a new change in France while the massive amount of smoke in the background signifies the end of the royal rule of Charles X. In general, the whole impression of the painting seems to lead upwards through the lines that are pointing upwards such as the boy’s pistol on the right and the people who are rising up on the left side. This pyramidal shape puts strong emphasis on the woman figure because she composes the “top” of the pyramid, giving out a sense of her dominance over the dead royal soldiers of France. Aside of the woman herself, it is worth noting her sense of leadership as shown through the lively men behind her. The arms raised in the background and the grim yet determined expressions on the people’s faces show a sense of passion in achieving their purpose in the revolution and their upright stature also conveys a sense of dominance over the dead people. Also the sense of Trinity is applied into the painting as the number three seems to represent the number of colors in the flag, the three guns that are held by the activists, the formation of a triangle of the painting and the wooden pieces on the bottom right are also three in number which bore the name of the painter and the year of the painting. (Alam, Nadeem, Ezine Articles)  

As the viewer’s eyes naturally move upward in the painting, one can note the gradual change of colors from down to top. The dark colors on the bottom is used to represent the gloomy situation of current France while the colors of the top signify the amount of energy put in for the  possibility of liberty from chaos that could be achieved through this revolution.