Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863). 1830. Oil on canvas. 8 ft. 6 1/8 in. x 10 ft. 15/16 in. (2.6 x 3.2 m). Musée du Louvre, Paris (RF 129), via Artvee (identified as being in the public domain). Caption material from Sébastien Allard and Côme Fabre reproduction of it (71).
This famous painting memorialises the rousing call to revolution in Paris, at the time of the uprising against the Bourbons. This was when the Bourbon King Charles X was deposed and replaced by Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, for the duration of the "July Monarchy" — prior to the next resort to the barricades and Louis-Philippe's ignominious departure in 1848 for exile in Surrey: "On a barricade in the heart of Paris, a bare-breasted woman advances, accompanied by the people she leads. She brandishes the blue, white, and red flag inherited from the Revolution of 1789 and adopted by the new king.... The energetic Liberty is on the march; she is the surging hope of a brighter future" (Allard and Fabre 71-72). — Jacqueline Banerjee
Links to Related Material
Bibliography
Allard, Sébastien, and Côme Fabre. "The Sphinx of Modern Painting." Delacroix, by Sébastien Allard, Côme Fabre and others. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2018. 1-222.
"Eugène Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People." Artvee.com. Web. 7 December 2025.
Created 7 December 2025