Liberty leading the people is an 1830 painting by Eugene Delacroix. Delacroix was a French Romantic artist and the leader of the French Romantic school. This painting shows a bare-breasted woman leading the people with a flag in one hand and a bayoneted musket in the other, leading a troop of men to fight for their freedom. The men here are mixtures of social classes as shown by the different apparel each person is wearing. This painting is a symbol of the age of enlightenment. Delacroix uses very bright colors on Lady liberty to draw the human’s attention to her. This painting is showing the revolt of the French Revolution (Delacroix).
In Liberty leading the people, every man and Lady Liberty has the look of determination, commitment, and strength. Liberty leading the people shows the symbolism of the perfect woman because a woman is taking the role of the men and is leading the troops for the freedom of the country. She is symbolizing patriotism and liberty because she is fighting for her country and is a leader for her country. This perfect woman is unattainable because only men fight in wars and are leaders. The women’s job is usually to stay and take care of the home and children. This bare breasted woman is imaginary and there are no other real women in the painting because women didn’t fight in wars in this era. This disempowers women because due to the fact that the woman shown in the painting is bare-breasted, a harsh sense of secularity is depicted upon the women. This also paints an inaccurate and biased picture of the women in that era.
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