It is very likely that you have seen this painting several times: a woman with a bare chest and the French flag walking over rubble, followed by a crowd. Is about Freedom guiding the peoplepainting by Eugène Delacroix, which has endured as symbolism of the French Revolution. Today at we want to tell you what this painting means and why it is so important, in addition to telling you some of its most interesting curiosities. Join us!
What does freedom leading the people mean? | Find out!
1. Description of Freedom guiding the people
Bodies on the ground, many of them without clothes or shoes. Debris and smoke from what appear to be fires surround these dead men. The image seems to evoke, even if we do not know its context, a revolt, a war or confrontation.
A woman in a yellow dress walks over this devastation. She is the center of the painting: she carries a gun in one hand and the French national flag in the other, she has a red hat and her breasts are exposed.. A character looks at her on her knees, also with a red scarf on her head, while other men with more weapons follow her. Behind this panorama, you can see the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.
Do you know what these people did? Why was Paris devastated? And, more importantly, what does the painting as a whole mean? Stay with us, without further delay we will tell you.
2. Meaning and importance of Freedom guiding the people
The French monarchy, with Louis XVI at its head, was suffocating the people in the midst of famine, taxes and bloody punishments, while he, his court and the rest of the nobility were swimming in luxuries and eccentricities. In France the idea had been nurtured that there was something more important than the King -a novel and revolutionary idea for the moment-, and this something valuable was the citizens -word that was also new-, liberty, equality and fraternity.
The French, especially the Parisians, lost their fear and obedience to the absolute monarchy and on July 14, 1789, the French Revolution broke out with the storming of the Bastille in Paris.. This revolution affirmed that political power should not be completely in the hands of the king, but that men, even without being nobles, could exercise this power.. This idea was promoted by the bourgeoisie, which had a lot of economic power, but did not have political power, since many of its members were not nobles. The man with the hat, present in the painting, and on the left side of the woman, represents the bourgeoisie.
The French people took to the streets, soaked in this thought, to attack the king, even to overthrow him and establish a new form of political organization. Meaning Freedom leading the people is the incarnation of the concept so important for such a revolution – freedom – in the figure of the half-naked woman.. The French Revolution went hand in hand with the Enlightenment, itself a daughter of the Renaissance, which rescued Europe’s Latin and Greek past. The woman in the painting with her face in profile recalls the profiles carved on Roman coins; Just as his dress and his bare shoulders recall Greek sculptures.
In this case, a specific person is no longer painted leading a people (a god-king) but rather it is a nameless woman who abstracts the concept that will guide the country in revolution. Freedom leading the people, no longer a king! We cannot miss what freedom wears on its head: a Phrygian cap. This was a symbol adopted by the French revolutionaries.
The character kneeling looking at Liberty represents the field worker, who also fought on the side of the revolution. This painting is so important because of its symbolic power. The work narrates with oil paintings and not with words what the French Revolution meant: Freedom guiding the people, the bourgeois, the farm worker, the student and all the revolutionaries.
3. Curiosities of Freedom leading the people
In 2008, the British rock band Coldplay made Freedom Leading the People the cover of their album titled “Viva la vida.”. This includes the single of the same name whose lyrics refer to the French Revolution and King Louis XVI. We leave you a part of the song: «The revolutionaries are waiting for my head on a silver platter. Just a puppet on a lonely string, oh. Who could want to be king?
If you want to see this painting you should visit the Louvre Museum in Paris. And, speaking of this, we thought that perhaps you would be interested in the posts on The best museums in the world or What to see in Paris where we talk about the Louvre and various symbols of the French Revolution.
And that’s it for our post. How interesting! No? We don’t want you to leave before you share a few words with us. Did you know the meaning of Freedom leading the people? Do you know of another meaning? See you soon 😊