Figure Studies related to "Liberty Leading the People"

1830
Not on view
This sheet includes early sketches of the bodies featured in the foreground of Delacroix’s remarkable submission to the Salon of 1831, "Liberty Leading the People" (1830; Musée du Louvre), his only painting of contemporary events in France: the July Revolution of 1830. The sprawled corpse at center with unbuttoned trousers appears in the lower right foreground of the painting. The slightly generalized character of the figures suggests that they were likely drawn from memory, rather than directly from life—casualties observed in the street and later recalled with pen and brush.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Figure Studies related to "Liberty Leading the People"
  • Artist: Eugène Delacroix (French, Charenton-Saint-Maurice 1798–1863 Paris)
  • Date: 1830
  • Medium: Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash
  • Dimensions: Overall: 8 7/16 x 13 7/16 in. (21.5 x 34.2 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Gift from the Karen B. Cohen Collection of Eugène Delacroix, in honor of Keith Christiansen, 2013
  • Object Number: 2013.1135.12
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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