[intro: theme music]
>>DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: We're in the Musée du Louvre
and we're looking at Delacroix's 'Liberty Leading the People'.
This is one of the most historically important
paintings in this collection.
>>DR. BETH HARRIS: And it's important to remember
I think, how radical this painting was.
It's republican revolutionary politics were palpable.
A little bit, perhaps, lost to us, I think, today.
The painting shows the revolution of 1830
on the streets of Paris.
And what we see is a barricade,
which was a makeshift blockade.
>>ZUCKER: And remember that Paris at this time
was really a medieval city.
And so the streets were narrow,
and they were winding,
and it was easy to block off French troops.
And they were made of furniture.
They were made of wagons.
They were made especially of cobblestones.
And you can see the cobblestones
down in the very foreground.
>>HARRIS: Over those cobblestones
strides a figure who one would not have
actually seen on the streets of Paris.
So we know this mixture of the real and the unreal,
because we have this allegorical figure of Liberty herself,
carrying the French tricolor flag which represents
equality, fraternity, and liberty—
the values of the revolution.
>>ZUCKER: So in the United States,
we would recognize this figure as the Statue of Liberty,
not a specific individual, but in fact
the embodiment or personification of an idea,
the idea of freedom.
>>HARRIS: So it's important to remember here
that what's happened is a monarchy
had been restored in France that was
very politically oppressive.
And the revolution in July of 1830 was against
that restored King Charles the Tenth
and brought into power a constitutional monarchy.
Presumably, a king that would be more friendly
to the needs of the middle class.
>>ZUCKER: So there were three days of...
beyond protest, of open warfare
in the streets of Paris.
Charles the Tenth actually flees France.
And his cousin Louis Philippe is put on the throne.
And Delacroix is watching this from his window.
>>HARRIS: And the violence is really frightening.
We have in the foreground dead members
of both sides of this fight.
>>ZUCKER: The figure on the left is really brutal.
If you look closely, it's clear that he's in his night shirt.
And one of the practices of the repressive
government was to go after the opposition
in their homes, beat them to death,
and drag them into the streets as a reminder: "Do not do this."
There's a very famous Daumier: 'Rue Transnonain'
that shows a family that has been killed
in their bedroom.
>>HARRIS: And on the right,
a member of the other side of the king's forces.
Who's dead or wounded in the foreground.
>>ZUCKER: And that's important because
I think that's a reminder that
even the royal troops are not invincible.
>>HARRIS: Liberty strides forward.
She's incredibly powerful.
And importantly, Delacroix is giving her
kind of realism.
That was very important, I think, in terms
of this message.
I think if the figure had been
an ancient Greek looking figure,
we would have lost some of the strength of this image.
We see her in profile, starkly lit,
with a kind of Caravaggio-esque lighting.
Her arm forward with the flag, her other arm carrying
the bayonet, striding over the barricade.
A figure that leads the people on with this idea of liberty.
>>ZUCKER: So, I see exactly what you're saying.
But I also disagree.
Because I think that Delacroix isn't viewing
this figure with all of those very human attributes
that we're talking about.
All of that sense of leadership and all of the
allegorical power that she represents.
But at the same time, I think Delacroix
is actually very consciously drawing on the ancient tradition.
The perfect profile, which is the most noble way
of representing the face according to the classical world
remind us of Roman coinage, for instance.
>>HARRIS: So it's not as if Delacroix looked out
of his window and actually saw this.
And that's not just because of
the allegorical figure of Liberty.
The figures are carefully composed in the shape of a pyramid.
And Delacroix has also included very different
types of figures intentionally.
Showing the range of people who participated
in the revolution of 1830.
>>ZUCKER: So not only do you have the man wearing the top hat,
a member of the bourgeoisie, of the middle class,
but next to him is a craftsmen—a workman—
in his shirt sleeves,
who probably can't afford that nice rifle.
But they are together opposing the monarchy.
>>HARRIS: And so there was a real
political message here of the power of the people
to overthrow a government.
And the government of Louis Philippe that came
into power purchased this painting,
but later this message started to feel
a little bit uncomfortable.
>>ZUCKER: A little too radical.
>>HARRIS: A little too radical. In fact, the government of Louis Philippe,
although a constitutional monarchy, still only a very small fraction
of the French people were able to vote.
We're talking about a government that was still
favorable only to the interests of real elite.
And so the power of the people that we see here in this painting
became dangerous, and the painting was taken down
and not exhibited again until the revolution of 1848.
>>ZUCKER: We'll look, for instance, at the extreme right side of the canvas
and you can make out the two towers of Notre Dame
rising above the smoke of battle.
And if you look very closely you can see the tricolor
on that symbol of the monarchy.
And so this was such a radical image.
>>HARRIS: Liberty is moving directly into our space
leading the people forward.
You can see why this painting ended up going
essentially into storage.
[ending: theme music]