Liberty Leading the People

Painted by Eugène Delacroix in 1830, this iconic work commemorates the July Revolution—three days of uprising known as les Trois Glorieuses—that toppled King Charles X and brought Louis-Philippe to power. The painting masterfully blends allegory with documentary realism, depicting the bare-breasted figure of Liberty as Marianne, the personification of the French Republic, leading Parisians of all social classes over a barricade.

Delacroix prominently featured the French tricolore, whose colors—blue, white, and red—had been banned during the Bourbon Restoration. The figures surrounding Liberty represent a cross-section of French society: a top-hatted bourgeois, a factory worker, and a young street urchin wielding pistols, often identified as an inspiration for Gavroche in Victor Hugo's Les Misérables.

The painting is a defining icon of French Romanticism and one of the most reproduced images in art history. It appeared on the former 100-franc banknote and continues to symbolize the revolutionary spirit. It hangs in the grand Salle Mollien alongside other monumental 19th-century French paintings.