PAINTING

- The painting was made by Eugene Delacroix in 1830. He witnessed the July Revolution in France
and used it as inspiration. Here he depicts Liberty leading men in freeing France from King
Charles X. It may be noticed that the attire of the different characters greatly vary. One can be
seen wearing a suit and tophat whereas another wears commoner’s clothing, symbolizing the
unification of the bourgeois and the sans-culottes in freeing France from oppression.
- Liberty is not shown as a woman of conventional beauty. She is depicted as muscular and grimy,
with armpit hair and breasts visible. Stones may be seen scattered on the bottom, which are the
remains of a barricade built by the defeated soldiers. The fallen soldiers appear to form a
pedestal for the victorious revolutionaries.

UNITY

- The painting is unified by a pyramid shape with the woman and her flag at the peak. Tracing the
weapons and arms we form two virtual diagonal lines that form the top of the pyramid. Its base
is formed by the two fallen soldiers.
- The focus of the painting is directed towards the woman.
- Her vertical stature gives her apparent superiority over all the other soldiers. Yet one can see
that her body isn’t entirely vertical, it is dynamic and leaning towards the right. This diagonal
orientation is echoed by some of the postures of the other characters and even by the slanted
clouds of smoke from behind. This grants a feeling of movement toward the right.
- Virtual lines may also be drawn using the lines of sight of most of the other characters who look
to Liberty in astonishment, further imposing her dominance.
- The color red also serves to unify the painting as a motif. It recurs in flags, articles of clothing,
even blood.
- It is interesting to note that the kneeling figure, also clad in red, is said to represent the previous
French revolution.
- The entirety of the painting has a rough, grainy texture. It may have been painted this way to
capture the chaotic, gritty, and rugged qualities of war.
BALANCE

- Balance is achieved by the concurrence of horizontal and vertical lines formed by Liberty and the
dead soldiers.
- The left side of the painting is more cluttered and features many dynamic shapes. The painter
keenly provides us with the view of a static shape—the Notre Dame—in the background to the
left to equilibrate this.
- The left side of the painting has warm and more saturated colors. This strikes a balance with the
blue sky and cityscape to the right. The use of warm color is consistent with the perceived
forward movement of the revolutionary front, which also achieves balance between the
advancing subject in the foreground with the receding background.
- Liberty’s clothing is yellow and red and is warmer and more vibrant than those of the other
characters. This makes her pop out as if she was ahead of everyone else. Her figure is further
emphasized by the white smoke that surrounds her, that modulates to blue outwardly.
- The painting also has balance by way of perspective. The revolutionaries can be seen becoming
increasingly smaller with distance toward the center. The building faces are also angled
inwardly. The painting is thus rendered in one point perspective, with the vanishing point
directly behind Liberty. This makes the painting symmetric to some extent.

HARMONY

- The painting is harmonious because of its consistent palette.

- It follows color theory, using primarily a triadic color scheme of red, blue, and yellow, but also
incorporating blue and the shades of orange, which are complementary. To avoid the clashing of
colors, most of the hues were desaturated.
- The brushstrokes are consistently harsh making the painting rugged in both subject and form.
- Painting also abides by the rule of thirds. Foreground, smoke, and sky.