Art can be an instrument of rebellion or power through which people portray their affection or hatred for a leader. Through studies of the Column of Trajan, a person may, at first glance, see this piece as a people's way of commemorating Trajan's victory at the Dacian wars. But after delving deeper into the context of the piece, the real purpose becomes clear; through his means, Trajan used the column to commemorate his own power and to establish a way for his leadership to be remembered forever. Contrariwise, the leader funded piece of architecture completely contrasted the rebellious and symbolic painting of rebellion shown in Eugène Delacroix's Liberty Leading the people. Liberty represents the entirety of a country and its oppression
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The periods in which these were made differ by more than one thousand years. Trajan's forum was completed in Rome around 113 AD, and Delacroix painted Liberty Leading the people in Paris around 1830. During these time periods, the Romans were celebrating a victory in the Dacian Wars that was fought with their power. On the other hand, the french were amidst revolution against their power, King Charles X. King Charles X was a ruler who oppressed his people by publications restrictive ordinances that were contrary to prior law and who was not well respected by his citizens. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Trajan is considered to be one of the greatest leaders the empire ever had and was respected as such at the time. His column was an immense architectural feat that made use of very expensive building materials such as colored marble (Connolly , "Trajan", 1970), while Liberty Leading the People was a painting that was composed of mere oil on canvas. While the general differences in these pieces are multitudinous, both pieces differ in a much deeper …show more content…
These portraits were both inspired by a form of violence. In Liberty Leading the People, Delacroix painted a theoretical scene of the July Rebellion that shared with people who saw it the intentions of the french people. Similarly, Trajan's column was based on his victories in the Dacian wars and the column itself was an unraveling story of leadership and endurance by Trajan and his armies. In both pieces, chaos seems to prevail, but in reality, there is a sense of subtle order. Trajan's scenes are organized into a sort of unraveling story , while Delacroix's painting made use of the classical triad to tell a story and to portray each piece of the painting's significance to the story. Despite being created one thousand years apart, human representations are mediums used by Delacroix and Trajan. Similarly, Liberty and Trajan are depicted nude despite the facts that the nude image of Liberty was intended to showcase rebellion and freedom while Trajan's nudity depicted his power atop his people and his
The periods in which these were made differ by more than one thousand years. Trajan's forum was completed in Rome around 113 AD, and Delacroix painted Liberty Leading the people in Paris around 1830. During these time periods, the Romans were celebrating a victory in the Dacian Wars that was fought with their power. On the other hand, the french were amidst revolution against their power, King Charles X. King Charles X was a ruler who oppressed his people by publications restrictive ordinances that were contrary to prior law and who was not well respected by his citizens. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Trajan is considered to be one of the greatest leaders the empire ever had and was respected as such at the time. His column was an immense architectural feat that made use of very expensive building materials such as colored marble (Connolly , "Trajan", 1970), while Liberty Leading the People was a painting that was composed of mere oil on canvas. While the general differences in these pieces are multitudinous, both pieces differ in a much deeper …show more content…
These portraits were both inspired by a form of violence. In Liberty Leading the People, Delacroix painted a theoretical scene of the July Rebellion that shared with people who saw it the intentions of the french people. Similarly, Trajan's column was based on his victories in the Dacian wars and the column itself was an unraveling story of leadership and endurance by Trajan and his armies. In both pieces, chaos seems to prevail, but in reality, there is a sense of subtle order. Trajan's scenes are organized into a sort of unraveling story , while Delacroix's painting made use of the classical triad to tell a story and to portray each piece of the painting's significance to the story. Despite being created one thousand years apart, human representations are mediums used by Delacroix and Trajan. Similarly, Liberty and Trajan are depicted nude despite the facts that the nude image of Liberty was intended to showcase rebellion and freedom while Trajan's nudity depicted his power atop his people and his