My Kid Could Paint That

In this poem Coleridge talks about the feeling of joy towards a lady. This poem relates to Liberty Leading the People by Delacroix from Coleridge's use in the words "Liberty" and "Freedom" and create a dark and weary setting. 

Liberty Leading the People depicts the July revolution of 1830 and like many Romantic era paintings, encompasses terror, violence, and heroism. He uses bold brush strokes and dark colors to communicate feelings of grand heroism and angry despair. Delacroix also paints people of all different social classes (for example, the man in the top hat and the man next to him in the tattered white shirt on the left) and does so to show that the revolution united the people of France. He also believed that many people had an impact on the revolution, not just the people fighting. He drew himself as the man in the top-hat because be thought that although he did not fight, he painted propaganda which had a major impact in his mind. Delacroix paints himself as the "high class man" in the painting, and possibly chooses to do so because he sees himself as superior to those who actually fought. 

France gifted the United States the Statue of Liberty in 1886 and many believe that the model for the statue had been based off of Liberty in Delacroix's painting. A woman symbolizes Liberty to represent that it is an idealistic liberty and not a real person. Delacroix along with most of society in the 19th century believed that no woman had enough power or strength to have such a role in a major propaganda painting. Simultaneously, Delacroix shows Liberty bare breasted as a symbol of power, feminine/supernatural strength, and possibly motherly care as she takes care of and leads the young men. 

Curated by Leo Yuan

Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People, 1830

From July 27 to 29, 1830, Parisians rose against Charles X, the last Bourbon king of France, and  replaced him with Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans. In October, Eugene Delacroix, who witnessed the uprising, created this painting as an expression of his patriotism. He wrote to his brother: "I have undertaken a modern subject, a barricade, and although I may not have fought for my country, at least I shall have painted for her. It has restored my good spirits."

Needless to say, the theme is a rebellious one. Dead soliders of the Second Restoration pile up on the ground, forming a pyramidal composition. The goddess of liberty strides over the corpses, leading her people to overthrow the tyranny. Delacroix spotlights her; her skin shining, her figure pure, her face looking back, beckoning the people to follow her. The sky echoes with the tricolor flag, making the whole scene one of dignity, bravery, and patriotism.

Critics then found the painting provocative; unlike those classic representation of liberty, the moment is grimy and chaotic, and the people, the common men, control too much power in the scene, making themselves fearful and indomitable to those high-up critics and their powerful friends. The work was hidden from public view during the king's reign, and only found itself in the Louvre in 1874. Today, it has become the universal representation of romantic and rebellious passion of those who strive for liberty and a change in the status quo.