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Paintings on the theme of the French Revolution. Delacroix

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"Freedom Leading the People"(fr. La Liberté guidant le peuple) or "Freedom on the Barricades"- painting French artist Eugene Delacroix.

Delacroix created the painting based on the July Revolution of 1830, which put an end to the Restoration regime of the Bourbon monarchy. After numerous preparatory sketches, it took him only three months to paint the painting. In a letter to his brother on October 12, 1830, Delacroix writes: “If I did not fight for my Motherland, then at least I will write for it.”

“Liberty Leading the People” was first exhibited at the Paris Salon in May 1831, where the painting was enthusiastically received and immediately purchased by the state. Heinrich Heine spoke about his impressions of the salon and of Delacroix’s painting, in particular. Due to the revolutionary plot, the painting was not exhibited in public for the next quarter of a century.

In the center of the picture is a woman, symbolizing freedom. On her head is a Phrygian cap, in her right hand is the flag of Republican France, in her left is a gun. The bare chest symbolizes the dedication of the French of that time, who with “ bare chested"We were going towards the enemy. The figures around Liberty - a worker, a bourgeois, a teenager - symbolize the unity of the French people during the July Revolution. Some art historians and critics suggest that in the form of a man in a top hat to the left of main character the artist depicted himself.

In 1999, Liberty made a 20-hour flight from Paris to an exhibition in Tokyo via Bahrain and Calcutta. Transportation was carried out on board the Airbus Beluga (the dimensions of the canvas - 2.99 m in height by 3.62 m in length - were too large for a Boeing 747) in a vertical position in an isothermal pressure chamber, protected from vibration.

On February 7, 2013, a visitor to the Louvre-Lens museum, where “Liberty” is exhibited, wrote on the lower part of the canvas with a marker, after which she was detained. The next day, restorers removed the damage, spending less than two hours on it.

Filmography

“On the pavements. Stopped Moment", film Alena Jaubert from the series “Palettes” (France, 1989).

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Excerpt describing Freedom Leading the People

And my soul absorbed this laughter, like a person sentenced to death absorbs the warm farewell rays of the already setting sun...
- Well, mommy, we’re still alive!.. We can still fight!.. You told me yourself that you’ll fight as long as you’re alive... So let’s think about whether we can do something . Can we rid the world of this Evil.
She supported me again with her courage!.. Again she found the right words...
This sweet, brave girl, almost a child, could not even imagine what kind of torture Caraffa could subject her to! In what brutal pain her soul could drown... But I knew... I knew everything that awaited her if I did not meet him halfway. If I don’t agree to give the Pope the only thing he wanted.
- My dear, my heart... I won’t be able to look at your torment... I won’t give you to him, my girl! The North and others like him don’t care who will remain in this LIFE... So why should we be different?.. Why should you and I care about someone else’s, someone else’s fate?!.
I myself was frightened by my words... although in my heart I perfectly understood that they were caused simply by the hopelessness of our situation. And, of course, I was not going to betray what I lived for... For which my father and my poor Girolamo died. Simply, just for a moment, I wanted to believe that we could just pick up and leave this terrible, “black” Karaffa world, forgetting about everything... forgetting about other people unfamiliar to us. Forgetting about evil...
It was a momentary weakness of a tired person, but I understood that I had no right to allow even that. And then, to top it all off, apparently unable to withstand the violence any longer, burning angry tears streamed down my face... But I tried so hard not to let this happen!.. I tried not to show my sweet girl into what depths of despair my exhausted, pain-torn soul...
Anna sadly looked at me with her huge gray eyes, in which lived a deep, not at all childish sadness... She quietly stroked my hands, as if wanting to calm me down. And my heart screamed, not wanting to humble myself... Not wanting to lose her. She was the only remaining meaning to my failed life. And I couldn’t allow the nonhumans called the Pope to take it away from me!
“Mommy, don’t worry about me,” Anna whispered, as if reading my thoughts. - I'm not afraid of pain. But even if it was very painful, grandfather promised to pick me up. I spoke to him yesterday. He will wait for me if you and I fail... And dad too. They will both be there waiting for me. But it will be very painful to leave you... I love you so much, mommy!..
Anna hid in my arms, as if seeking protection... But I couldn’t protect her... I couldn’t save her. I didn't find the "key" to Karaffa...
- Forgive me, my sunshine, I let you down. I failed us both... I couldn't find a way to destroy him. Forgive me, Annushka...
An hour passed unnoticed. We talked about different things, without returning to the murder of the Pope, since we both knew perfectly well that today we had lost... And it didn’t matter what we wanted... Caraffa lived, and that was the worst and most important thing. We have failed to free our world from it. Failed to save good people. He lived, despite any attempts, no desires. Despite everything...

100 masterpieces of painting. The most famous paintings in the world

... or “Freedom on the Barricades” - a painting by the French artist Eugene Delacroix. It seems to have been created in one impulse. Delacroix created the painting based on the July Revolution of 1830, which put an end to the Restoration regime of the Bourbon monarchy.
This is the final assault. The crowd converges on the viewer in a cloud of dust, waving their weapons. She crosses the barricade and breaks into the enemy camp. At the head are four figures in the center - a woman. A mythical goddess, she leads them to Freedom. Soldiers lie at their feet. The action rises in a pyramid, according to two planes: horizontal figures at the base and vertical, close-up. The image becomes a monument. The sweeping touch and sweeping rhythm are balanced. The painting combines accessories and symbols - history and fiction, reality and allegory. Allegories of Freedom are a living and energetic daughter of the people, which embodies rebellion and victory. Dressed in a Phrygian cap, floating on her neck, she brings to mind the revolution of 1789. The flag, a symbol of struggle, unfolds from the back of the blue-white-red. From dark to bright as a flame. Her yellow dress, whose double belt floats in the wind, slides below her breasts and is reminiscent of ancient drapery. Nudity is erotic realism and is associated with winged victories. The profile is Greek, the nose is straight, the mouth is generous, the chin is gentle. An exceptional woman among men, decisive and noble, turning her head towards them, she leads them to final victory. The profile figure is illuminated from the right. Resting on her bare left leg, which protrudes from her dress, the fire of action transforms her. Allegory is the real hero of the struggle. The rifle she holds in her left hand makes her look realistic. On the right, in front of the figure of Liberty, is a boy. The symbol of youth rises as a symbol of injustice. And we remember the character of Gavroche in Victor Hugo’s novel “Les Miserables.” “Liberty Leading the People” was first exhibited at the Paris Salon in May 1831, where the painting was enthusiastically received and immediately bought by the state. Due to the revolutionary plot, the painting was not exhibited in public for the next quarter of a century. In the center of the picture is a woman, symbolizing freedom. On her head is a Phrygian cap, in her right hand is the flag of Republican France, in her left is a gun. The bare chest symbolizes the dedication of the French of that time, who went bare-chested against the enemy. The figures around Liberty - a worker, a bourgeois, a teenager - symbolize the unity of the French people during the July Revolution. Some art historians and critics suggest that the artist depicted himself as a man in a top hat to the left of the main character.

Eugene Delacroix Liberty leading the people, 1830 La Liberté guidant le peuple Oil on canvas. 260 × 325 cm Louvre, Paris “Liberty leading the people” (French ... Wikipedia

Basic concepts Free will Positive freedom Negative freedom Human rights Violence ... Wikipedia

Eugene Delacroix Liberty leading the people, 1830 La Liberté guidant le peuple Oil on canvas. 260 × 325 cm Louvre, Paris “Liberty leading the people” (French ... Wikipedia

This term has other meanings, see People (meanings). The people (also common people, mob, masses) are the main unprivileged mass of the population (both working people, declassed and marginal). They are not considered a people... ... Wikipedia

Freedom Basic concepts Free will Positive freedom Negative freedom Human rights Violence · ... Wikipedia

Liberty Leading the People, Eugene Delacroix, 1830, Louvre The July Revolution of 1830 (French La révolution de Juillet) an uprising on July 27 against the current monarchy in France, leading to the final overthrow of the senior line of the Bourbon dynasty (?) and ... ... Wikipedia

One of the main genres of fine art, dedicated to historical events and figures, socially significant phenomena in the history of society. Addressed mainly to the past, I. J. also includes images of recent events... ... Big Soviet encyclopedia

Books

Delacroix, . The album of color and tone reproductions is dedicated to the work of the outstanding French artist of the 19th century Eugene Delicroix, who led the romantic movement in fine arts. In album…

The story of a masterpiece

Eugene Delacroix. "Freedom on the Barricades"

In 1831, at the Paris Salon, the French first saw Eugene Delacroix’s painting “Freedom on the Barricades,” dedicated to the “three glorious days” of the July Revolution of 1830. The painting made a stunning impression on its contemporaries with its power, democracy and boldness of artistic design. According to legend, one respectable bourgeois exclaimed:

“You say - the head of the school? Better say - the head of the rebellion!

After the salon closed, the government, frightened by the formidable and inspiring appeal emanating from the painting, hastened to return it to the author. During the revolution of 1848, it was again put on public display at the Luxembourg Palace. And again they returned it to the artist. Only after the painting was exhibited at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1855 did it end up in the Louvre. One of the best creations of French romanticism is kept here to this day - an inspired eyewitness account and an eternal monument to the people’s struggle for their freedom.

Which one artistic language found a young French romantic to merge these two seemingly opposite principles - a broad, all-encompassing generalization and a concrete reality cruel in its nakedness?

Paris of the famous days of July 1830. The air is saturated with blue smoke and dust. A beautiful and majestic city, disappearing in a haze of gunpowder. In the distance, barely noticeable, but the cathedral towers rise proudly Notre Dame of Paris - symbol history, culture, spirit of the French people.

From there, from the smoke-filled city, over the ruins of the barricades, over the dead bodies of their fallen comrades, the rebels stubbornly and decisively step forward. Each of them may die, but the step of the rebels is unshakable - they are inspired by the will to victory, to freedom.

This inspiring power is embodied in the image of a beautiful young woman, passionately calling for her. With her inexhaustible energy, free and youthful swiftness of movement, she is similar to the Greek goddess of victory Nike. Her strong figure is dressed in a chiton dress, her face is ideal features, with burning eyes turned to the rebels. In one hand she holds the tricolor flag of France, in the other - a gun. On the head there is a Phrygian cap - an ancient symbolliberation from slavery. Her step is swift and light - the way goddesses walk. At the same time, the image of the woman is real - she is the daughter of the French people. She is the guiding force behind the group's movement on the barricades. From it, as from a source of light and a center of energy, rays emanate, charging with thirst and the will to win. Those in close proximity to her, each in their own way, express their participation in this encouraging and inspiring call.

On the right is a boy, a Parisian gamen, waving pistols. He is closest to Freedom and, as it were, ignited by its enthusiasm and joy of free impulse. In his swift, boyishly impatient movement, he is even slightly ahead of his inspiration. This is the predecessor of the legendary Gavroche, portrayed twenty years later by Victor Hugo in the novel Les Misérables:

“Gavroche, full of inspiration, radiant, took upon himself the task of putting the whole thing into motion. He scurried back and forth, rose up, sank down, rose again, made noise, sparkled with joy. It would seem that he came here to encourage everyone. Did he have any motive for this? Yes, of course, his poverty. Did he have wings? Yes, of course, his gaiety. It was some kind of whirlwind. It seemed to fill the air, being present everywhere at the same time... Huge barricades felt it on their ridges.”

Gavroche in Delacroix’s painting is the personification of youth, “beautiful impulse,” joyful acceptance of the bright idea of Freedom. Two images - Gavroche and Freedom - seem to complement each other: one is fire, the other is a torch lit from it. Heinrich Heine told how the figure of Gavroche evoked a lively response among Parisians.

"Damn it! - exclaimed some grocery merchant. “These boys fought like giants!”

On the left is a student with a gun. Previously they saw himself-portrait artist. This rebel is not as swift as Gavroche. His movement is more restrained, more concentrated, more meaningful. The hands confidently grip the barrel of the gun, the face expresses courage, a firm determination to stand to the end. This is a deeply tragic image. The student is aware of the inevitability of losses that the rebels will suffer, but the victims do not frighten him - the will to freedom is stronger. Behind him stands an equally courageous and determined worker with a saber.

There is a wounded man at the feet of Freedom. He barely sits uphe strives to look up once again at Freedom, to see and feel with all his heart the beauty for which he is dying. This figure brings a sharply dramatic element to the sound of Delacroix’s canvas. If the images of Liberty, Gavroche, a student, a worker - almost symbols, the embodiment of the unyielding will of freedom fighters - inspire and call on the viewer, then the wounded man calls for compassion. Man says goodbye to Freedom, says goodbye to life. He is still an impulse, a movement, but already a fading impulse.

His figure is transitional. The viewer's gaze, still fascinated and carried away by the revolutionary determination of the rebels, falls down to the foot of the barricade, covered with the bodies of the glorious dead soldiers. Death is presented by the artist in all the bareness and obviousness of the fact. We see the blue faces of the dead, their naked bodies: the struggle is merciless, and death is as inevitable a companion of the rebels as the beautiful inspirer Freedom.

But not exactly the same! From the terrible sight at the bottom edge of the picture, we again raise our gaze and see a young beautiful figure - no! life wins! The idea of freedom, embodied so visibly and tangibly, is so focused on the future that death in its name is not scary.

The painting was painted by a 32-year-old artist who was full of strength, energy, and a thirst to live and create. The young painter, who studied in the studio of Guerin, a student of the famous David, sought his own path in art. Gradually he becomes the head of a new direction - romanticism, which replaced the old one - classicism. Unlike his predecessors, who built painting on rational principles, Delacroix sought to appeal primarily to the heart. In his opinion, painting should shock a person’s feelings, completely captivating him with the passion that possesses the artist. On this path, Delacroix develops his creative credo. He copies Rubens, is fond of Turner, is close to Géricault, the favorite colorist of the Frenchmasters becomes Tintoretto. The English theater that came to France fascinated him with productions of Shakespeare's tragedies. Byron became one of his favorite poets. These hobbies and affections formed the figurative world of Delacroix’s paintings. He addressed historical topics,stories , drawn from the works of Shakespeare and Byron. His imagination was excited by the East.

But then a phrase appears in the diary:

“I felt a desire to write about modern subjects.”

Delacroix states more definitely:

“I want to write about revolution stories.”

However, the dull and sluggish reality surrounding the romantically minded artist did not provide worthy material.

And suddenly a revolution bursts into this gray routine like a whirlwind, like a hurricane. All of Paris was covered with barricades and within three days the Bourbon dynasty was swept away forever. “Holy days of July! - exclaimed Heinrich Heine. - How wonderful The sun was red, how great were the people of Paris!”

On October 5, 1830, Delacroix, an eyewitness to the revolution, writes to his brother:

“I started painting on a modern subject - “Barricades”. If I didn’t fight for my fatherland, then at least I will paint in its honor.”

This is how the idea arose. At first, Delacroix decided to depict a specific episode of the revolution, for example, “The Death of d'Arcole,” the hero who fell during the capture of the town hall. But the artist very soon abandoned this decision. He is looking for a generalizingimage , which would embody the highest meaning of what is happening. In Auguste Barbier's poem he findsallegory Freedom in the form of “...a strong woman with a powerful chest, with a hoarse voice, with fire in her eyes...”. But it was not only Barbier’s poem that prompted the artist to create the image of Freedom. He knew how fiercely and selflessly the French women fought on the barricades. Contemporaries recalled:

“And women, especially women from the common people - heated, excited - inspired, encouraged, embittered their brothers, husbands and children. They helped the wounded under bullets and grapeshot or rushed at their enemies like lionesses.”

Delacroix probably also knew about the brave girl who captured one of the enemy’s cannons. Then she, crowned with a laurel wreath, was carried in triumph in a chair through the streets of Paris to the cheers of the people. So reality itself provided ready-made symbols.

Delacroix could only interpret them artistically. After a lengthy search, the plot of the picture finally crystallized: a majestic figure leads an unstoppable stream of people. The artist depicts only a small group of rebels, living and dead. But the defenders of the barricade seem unusually numerous.Composition is built in such a way that the group of fighters is not limited, not closed in on itself. She is just part of an endless avalanche of people. The artist gives, as it were, a fragment of the group: the picture frame cuts off the figures on the left, right, and below.

Typically, color in Delacroix's works acquires a highly emotional sound and plays a dominant role in creating a dramatic effect. The colors, now raging, now fading, muted, create a tense atmosphere. In "Freedom on the Barricades" Delacroix departs from this principle. Very precisely, carefully choosing paint and applying it with broad strokes, the artist conveys the atmosphere of the battle.

But coloristic gamma reserved. Delacroix focuses onembossed modeling forms . This was required by the figurative solution of the picture. After all, by depicting a specific yesterday’s event, the artist also created a monument to this event. Therefore, the figures are almost sculptural. Therefore everyonecharacter , being part of a single whole of the picture, is also something closed in itself, it is a symbol cast into a completed form. Therefore, color not only has an emotional impact on the viewer’s feelings,but it also carries a symbolic load. In the brown-gray space, here and there a solemn triad flashesnaturalism , and ideal beauty; rough, terrible - and sublime, pure. It is not without reason that many critics, even those who were well disposed towards Delacroix, were shocked by the novelty and boldness of the picture, unthinkable for that time. And it was not for nothing that the French later called it “Marseillaise” inpainting .

Being one of the best creations and products of French romanticism, Delacroix's canvas remains unique in its artistic content. “Freedom on the Barricades” is the only work in which romanticism, with its eternal craving for the majestic and heroic, with its distrust of reality, turned to this reality, was inspired by it and found the highest artistic meaning in it. But, responding to the call of a specific event that suddenly changed the usual course of life of an entire generation, Delacroix goes beyond it. In the process of working on a painting, he gives free rein to his imagination, sweeps away everything concrete, transient, and individual that reality can give, and transforms it with creative energy.

This canvas brings to us the hot breath of the July days of 1830, the rapid revolutionary rise of the French nation and is the perfect artistic embodiment of the wonderful idea of the people’s struggle for their freedom.

E. VARLAMOVA

325x260 cm.
Louvre.

The plot of the painting “Freedom on the Barricades,” exhibited at the Salon in 1831, refers to the events of the bourgeois revolution of 1830. The artist created a kind of allegory of the union between the bourgeoisie, represented in the painting by a young man in a top hat, and the people who surround him. True, by the time the picture was created, the alliance of the people with the bourgeoisie had already collapsed, and it was hidden from the viewer for many years. The painting was bought (commissioned) by Louis Philippe, who financed the revolution, but the classic pyramidal compositional structure This painting emphasizes its romantic revolutionary symbolism, and the energetic blue and red strokes make the plot excitedly dynamic. A young woman in a Phrygian cap, personifying Freedom, rises in clear silhouette against the background of the bright sky; her breasts are bare. She holds the French national flag high above her head. The gaze of the heroine of the canvas is fixed on a man in a top hat with a rifle, personifying the bourgeoisie; to her right is a boy waving pistols, Gavroche, - folk hero Parisian streets.

The painting was donated to the Louvre by Carlos Beistegui in 1942; included in the Louvre collection in 1953.

Marfa Vsevolodovna Zamkova.
http://www.bibliotekar.ru/muzeumLuvr/46.htm

“I chose a modern plot, a scene on the barricades. .. Even if I did not fight for the freedom of the fatherland, then at least I must glorify this freedom,” Delacroix informed his brother, referring to the painting “Freedom Leading the People” (in our country it is also known as “Freedom on barricades"). The call contained in it to fight against tyranny was heard and enthusiastically accepted by contemporaries.
Freedom walks barefoot and bare-chested over the corpses of fallen revolutionaries, calling the rebels to follow them. In her raised hand she holds the tricolor republican flag, and its colors - red, white and blue - echo throughout the canvas. In his masterpiece, Delacroix combined the seemingly incompatible - the protocol realism of reportage with the sublime fabric of poetic allegory. He gave a small episode of street fighting a timeless, epic sound. Central character canvases - Freedom, combining the majestic posture of Aphrodite de Milo with those features that Auguste Barbier endowed with Freedom: “This is a strong woman with a powerful chest, with a hoarse voice, with fire in her eyes, fast, with a wide step.”

Encouraged by the successes of the Revolution of 1830, Delacroix began work on the painting on September 20 to glorify the Revolution. In March 1831 he received an award for it, and in April he exhibited the painting at the Salon. The painting, with its frantic power, repelled bourgeois visitors, who also reproached the artist for showing only the “rabble” in this heroic action. At the salon in 1831, the French Ministry of the Interior bought "Liberty" for the Luxembourg Museum. After 2 years, “Freedom”, the plot of which was considered too politicized, was removed from the museum and returned to the author. The king bought the painting, but, frightened by its nature, dangerous during the reign of the bourgeoisie, he ordered it to be hidden, rolled up, and then returned to the author (1839). In 1848, the Louvre requested the painting. In 1852 - Second Empire. The picture is again considered subversive and sent to the storage room. In the final months of the Second Empire, "Liberty" was again seen as a great symbol, and engravings of this composition served the cause of Republican propaganda. After 3 years, it is removed from there and demonstrated at the world exhibition. At this time, Delacroix rewrote it again. Perhaps he is darkening the bright red tone of the cap to soften its revolutionary look. In 1863, Delacroix dies at home. And after 11 years, “Freedom” is again exhibited at the Louvre.

Delacroix himself did not take part in the “three glorious days”, observing what was happening from the windows of his workshop, but after the fall of the Bourbon monarchy he decided to perpetuate the image of the Revolution.

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