Liberty leads the people (French: La Liberté guidant le peuple) is a painting by French painter Eugène Delacroix.
It depicts Liberty as Marianne, the national symbol of France, leading the revolutionaries at the July Revolution of 1830. It is painted in oil.
This is one of the best-known and most imitated paintings in the history of French painting. The scene shows the well-known allegory of freedom: the woman (harking back to older representation methods for allegories) with her upper body bared (nudity as a sign of vulnerability - and thus courage - in contrast to the horror taking place). The woman wears a Phrygian hat referring to freedom. To her right, one sees a little boy, referring to youth, fearlessly holding two pistols. The man to her left, looking doubtfully into the distance, is sometimes said to be a self-portrait of Delacroix, although this is not certain. What is striking about this painting is its classical composition with a central triangle and its topical subject matter, where many romantics often harked back to the past. This painting shows that the three classes (clergy, nobility and bourgeoisie) were in favour of the revolution, because in addition to the woman, the three classes are present. Thus, all the classes opposed the established order. The flag the woman is holding is also not just the French flag. It was the new flag with three colours di
