Painting Observation

Liberty Leading the People: Romanticism and Liberalism

By just looking at this painting called Liberty Leading the People by French Painter Eugene Delacroix, we can assume that there is a revolution taking place. We can see many people from different social classes as well as many people from different ages and gender struggling for change. We also see a woman holding the French flag in her right arm while at the same time holding a gun in her left arm. We can deduce that she is the leader of the French revolution because the people seem to be following her. If we look more deeply into the painting we can say that this woman has some similarities to the Statue of Liberty in the way she is posing. For this reason we can also deduce that this woman represents liberty as well, while the flag in her hand represents nationalism for the people of France. There are also many fallen bodies all around the ground as consequences from the battles for change and liberty. We can also assume that the Nationalists won that battle in the painting, because despite the fallen bodies on the ground, there are many Nationalists standing and going forward until the end. We also see some smoke in the background of the painting which represents the gunpowder and features of the battle. In the painting, the woman has bare breasts which symbolize Romanticism and Liberalism in the struggle for liberty.