At the time Eugene Delacroix painted this work, the July Revolution of 1830 was in full swing throughout France. The Revolution's goal was to overthrow the then-ruler of France, Charles X. Charles's popularity had dwindled ever since the start of his reign in 1824, but it all came to a head with the signing of the July Ordinances on July 25th, 1830. These ordinances gave him more power by dissolving the Chamber of Deputies, the lower body of the French parliament that represented common citizens. The Ordinances also reduced the Chamber's size, repressed the media, and overall took away the people's say in French gubernatorial affairs. After three days of
fighting, Charles X was exiled to Great Britain and Louis Philippe
was installed as a constitutional monarch.
Although Delacroix painted the work in October, well after the revolution's end, it portrays a very dramatic view of what he believed the Revolution stood for. The painting centers on a bare-chested woman leading a charge over a mound of dead bodies. She is holding a tricolored flag, which was a symbol of the French Revolution of 1789, and is the flag that France has used since the July Revolution. Also of note are the young boy flaunting a pistol in each hand, and the young man standing behind the woman holding a rifle firmly. The mood of the painting is one of fiery determination to win the battle ahead, complemented by the smoky sky overhead emphasizing the turmoil France was in at the time.
Related trivia includes the bare-chested woman being an inspiration for the Statue of Liberty by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi in the 1870s. The instructor for our arts history class mentioned that the young man with the rifle was a self-portrait of Delacroix. If this is true, then Delacroix's motive for creating this painting was at least partially out of patriotism and revolutionary fervor.
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