Where can I see Liberty Leading the People?

It's at the Louvre in Paris. Eugène Delacroix painted it in 1830, and the French government purchased it in 1831. It's been in and out of public display over the years depending on France's political climate.

What event does this painting depict?

The July Revolution of 1830, when Parisians overthrew King Charles X over three days of street fighting. Delacroix witnessed the uprising firsthand. The painting shows revolutionaries from different social classes charging over a barricade amid smoke and fallen bodies.

Who is the woman with the flag?

She's Marianne, a personification of the French Republic and the concept of Liberty. She's not a real person. Delacroix combined a classical allegorical figure (barefoot, wearing a Phrygian cap) with the gritty realism of the battle scene around her. She carries the French tricolour and a bayonet.

What art movement is this painting part of?

It's one of the defining works of Romanticism. Delacroix prioritized emotion, movement, and dramatic color over the calm, ordered compositions of Neoclassicism. The painting's raw energy and political subject matter broke new ground for history painting.

How big is Liberty Leading the People?

It measures 260 cm × 325 cm (8 feet 6 inches × 10 feet 8 inches). It's a large-scale oil on canvas. The boy with pistols on the right side is sometimes identified as an inspiration for the character of Gavroche in Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, published just two years later.

Where to See Liberty Leading the People: Louvre, Paris

Liberty Leading the People

by Eugène Delacroix, 1830

StyleRomanticism

MediumOil Canvas

Year: 1830
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 260 cm × 325 cm (102.4 × 128 in)

Where to See It

Louvre, Paris

Paris, France

Permanently housed

Museum Website Buy Tickets

The Artist

Eugène Delacroix

1798–1863

French

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Eugène Delacroix completed this Liberty Leading the People in 1830, just months after the July Revolution that overthrew King Charles X. The allegorical figure of Liberty, bare-breasted and holding the tricolor flag, strides over fallen bodies while leading armed citizens forward. The towers of Notre-Dame rise through the gunsmoke behind her.

This isn't purely allegorical. Delacroix painted actual Parisians fighting alongside Liberty: a bourgeois in a top hat, a street urchin with pistols, workers and students. The artist himself may appear as the figure in the top hat. The raw energy and violence shocked contemporary viewers accustomed to idealized history paintings.

The French government purchased the painting but quickly hid it away, considering it too inflammatory for public display. It hung in the Louvre from 1874 onward, becoming a symbol of French republicanism. The image has influenced everything from postage stamps to Coldplay album covers.

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Liberty Leading the People