Pei Yun Wu
Mr. Weinberger
AP European History p. 4
June 8, 2017 Liberty Leading the People was a Romantic oil painting by Eugene Delacroix commemorating the July Revolution of 1830. Liberty, symbolized by the woman leading the men would later become the symbol of the French Republic. The medium was oil on canvas, a very popular medium in the 1800’s. Romanticism was a movement of emotions as a reaction to the Industrial Revolution’s logical, machinery ways. France was particularly famous for its Romantic figure paintings, such as Liberty Leading the People. The painting is Romantic because it commands a subtle feeling of intense feelings and greatness.
In the Romantic period, the paintings were expected to have less restrained, …show more content…
New, artificial, cheaper pigments were available through production thus, many Romantic artworks had brighter, new colors compared to decades or centuries ago. Delacroix was one of the most influential painters due to achieving a brilliant effect of contrast from the background to the main subject, Liberty, by using contrasting colors and light. Liberty is a Caucasian woman, therefore using light grey, peach and white blended paint to create a smooth skin and she is dressed in a pale yellow dress, holding a brilliant red, white and blue flag while a subtle halo of light in the cannon smoke that surrounds her to emphasize her power. Notice that the blue section of the flag is right above Liberty’s head, by using a darker blue, the flowing flag blends into the sky, giving red and white an even greater contrast, which demands attention to the center of the artwork. The light is also shed on a dead corpse out of the piles of corpses depicted in darker color, symbolising and honoring the fallen. The colors such as black and white, yellow and blue are directly opposite of the spectrum, leading a greater deal of contrast. Delacroix’s great detail in the interaction of light and colors proofs to stimulate a greater, more dramatic
Mr. Weinberger
AP European History p. 4
June 8, 2017 Liberty Leading the People was a Romantic oil painting by Eugene Delacroix commemorating the July Revolution of 1830. Liberty, symbolized by the woman leading the men would later become the symbol of the French Republic. The medium was oil on canvas, a very popular medium in the 1800’s. Romanticism was a movement of emotions as a reaction to the Industrial Revolution’s logical, machinery ways. France was particularly famous for its Romantic figure paintings, such as Liberty Leading the People. The painting is Romantic because it commands a subtle feeling of intense feelings and greatness.
In the Romantic period, the paintings were expected to have less restrained, …show more content…
New, artificial, cheaper pigments were available through production thus, many Romantic artworks had brighter, new colors compared to decades or centuries ago. Delacroix was one of the most influential painters due to achieving a brilliant effect of contrast from the background to the main subject, Liberty, by using contrasting colors and light. Liberty is a Caucasian woman, therefore using light grey, peach and white blended paint to create a smooth skin and she is dressed in a pale yellow dress, holding a brilliant red, white and blue flag while a subtle halo of light in the cannon smoke that surrounds her to emphasize her power. Notice that the blue section of the flag is right above Liberty’s head, by using a darker blue, the flowing flag blends into the sky, giving red and white an even greater contrast, which demands attention to the center of the artwork. The light is also shed on a dead corpse out of the piles of corpses depicted in darker color, symbolising and honoring the fallen. The colors such as black and white, yellow and blue are directly opposite of the spectrum, leading a greater deal of contrast. Delacroix’s great detail in the interaction of light and colors proofs to stimulate a greater, more dramatic