Liberty Leading the People & the Three Glorious Days

The most recognized painting by the Romantic master Éugene Delacroix, La Liberté Guidant le Peuple le 28 Juillet 1830, depicts the event of this day, 196 years ago. Painted in 1830 for the Salon of 1831, the painting commemorates the Paris uprising of 1830, known as the Trois Glorieuses (Three Glorious Days) that ousted King Charles X.  Liberty is the focal point of the painting, an allegorical figure rich with Greek imagery. 

In this week's newest episode, we go into the events leading up to the July Revolution and the painting it inspired. 

For more info and photos ClaudineHemingway.com 

Coming to Paris? Book a walking tour with me at ClaudineHemingway.com 

Transcript

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Bonjour, bonjour, and welcome to episode 29 of Paris in Blue Blanc Rouge with Claudine Hemingway. That is me. And sometimes these just get timed so perfectly. And today, the date is July 28th, 2026. And it just so happens to be a very important date in French history. Maybe some people don't realize that. I just was talking to my friend at a restaurant down the street, and I said, Well, of course, you know what today is. And he, of course, didn't, and he thinks I'm crazy. But I love all of these holidays and recognizing all of them and sharing them with you. And it also is tied to a very famous painting that hangs inside the Louvre, maybe one of the most famous after the Mona Lisa. It's the most recognized painting by the romantic master Eugene Delacroix. Liberty Guiding the People, the 28th of July, 1830, depicts the event of this day 196 years ago. It was painted in 1830 for the salon of 1831. The painting commemorates the Paris uprising of 1830 known as the Trois Glorieus or the Three Glorious Days, which ousted King Charles X. France's timeline is marked with more than one revolution. Most know of the big one that resulted in the beheading of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, which began in 1789. Four decades later, the people would rise up again against the brother of Louis XVI after the fall of Napoleon in 1814. The Bourbons returned, first with Louis XVIII in 1814 and again in 1815 after Napoleon's less than triumphant return, ruling until his death on September 16, 1824. Without an heir, Louis's brother, the Comte d'Artois, would take the name Charles X in the throne of France. Charles X started strong with removing the censorship of the press. His reversal of that six years later would be his demise. A lover of the arts, he added his own museum within the Louvre dedicated to the Egyptian antiquities, created in 1826 and advancing the purchasing of collections to add to the Louvre. The rooms of Charles X still stand today with lavishly decorated ceilings and are filled with Egyptian and Roman antiquities and are steps away from the gallery d'Apalon. While Charles X's rule began with popular measures, he would eventually return to the more monochorial ways of the Bourbon routes. Citizens began to realize that the things were not getting better as promised. Unemployment was high, food prices were soaring, all leading to rising poverty, and the generation made up of the children of the French Revolution was tired of it. To gain control, Charles X wanted to restore the absolute monarchy, the same one that ended with his older brother, Louis XVI. Clearly, Chuck forgot how that worked out for Louis. The parliamentary government of the chamber pressed back against him when they convened on March 2nd, 1830, believing his announcement of entering Algiers to reclaim the port would unite everyone behind him. Charles X made many missteps along the way, including putting Prince Jules de Polignac in the role as the president of the Council of Ministers. If his last name sounds vaguely familiar, it may be because of his mother. Polignac was born on May 14, 1780, and raised at Versailles. His mother, Madame de Polignac, was besties with Marie Antoinette, a relationship that alienated many a court and even spread rumors of an affair. Madame de Polignac was also very close to the Comte d'Artois, the future Charles X, even spreading rumors that he was the father of Jules de Polignac. After fleeing Versailles and France during the Revolution, Polignac remained at close contact with Louis XVIII and Charles X. When the Bourbons returned to Paris and the throne, Jules was one of the most trusted advisors and would ascend through the government. When the people began to mistrust the king and the government, having such a close reminder of the major revolution and the monarchy's excess would work against Charles. The minister and the chamber's members quickly backed away from the crown and sided with Adolphe Thiers and the more progressive members who were becoming increasingly outspoken. After the king's announcement of the opening and the backing of Polignac, a vote was held a few days later, known as the address of the 221, in regards to the 221 votes for and 181 against the king's decision. In response on March 19, 1830, the king suspended meetings and adjourned the chamber, sending them all home. Sitting on it for two months, he eventually dissolved the entire chambers on May 16, 1830. 430 chamber members were all out of a job. He set a new vote for July 15th, 13th, and the 19th, at which 430 new officers would be elected, with the majority being the Liberal Party and the ultra-royalists led by Polignac in the minority. Charles X was very upset at this point and in response issued four decrees that would put the nail in the coffin of his reign. Issued on July 25th, the first would cripple the press, essentially ending the freedom of the press by ordering that journalists and papers had to have a license issued by the king. The second once again dissolved the Chamber of Deputies and called for another election in September. The third would change the election law altogether, and the fourth would give the king full power to appoint his ultra royalist members to any office he wished. Any of this sound familiar? On May 26th, more than 50 newspapers were forced to stop the presses, but not all of them obeyed. Many published articles spoke out against the king and the crackdown on the press, raising more ire from the throne. The next morning the press gathered and vowed to fight back. Claude Monjon, who was a prefect of Paris, and another good old boy of Polenac and the king, was ordered to seize their presses from the twelve newspapers that published pieces overnight against the king. As the officers of Monjon arrived, they were met with workers who were waiting for them and were not going to go down easily. By the afternoon, one by one, the editors, owners, typesetters, journalists, and printers began to march into the center of Paris. The Place Vendôme, Place de la Bestie, and the Place de Carousel saw large crowds of outraged citizens that the police were no match for. On July 28th, the pivotal day of the uprising brought everyone together. People traveled from outside of Paris to support and speak out against the king and Polignac. What made this revolution different than the one of the end of the 18th century is that this united everyone, the rich, the poor, and even past supporters of the king and monarchy. On the Rue de Richelieu, across the street from the Palais Royal, sat the gunsmith Fore Lepage, who had serviced the crown since Louis XV, including Charles X. On the morning of July 27th, the third generation owner, Jean-André LaPage and his employees worked around the clock to melt down and forge weapons and ammunition to give to the protesters to fight against the Guard Royale. With weapons in hands, the crowd gathered in front of the Hotel de Ville, and the Guard Royale was quickly outnumbered. The angry crowd gathered every cobblestone and projectile to build barricades and also tossed them at the police force. At 1 30 p.m., the crowd entered the Hotel de Ville, seized control, and raised the tricolor flag. The significance of this moment and the return of the French flag we know today marks the symbolic end of the Bourbon regime. The tricolor flag was adopted in February of 1794 in the midst of the major revolution. Prior to that, the flag had been solid blue or white with fleur de leaves on white with the coat of arms of the monarchy. To rid itself of anything associated with the king, the tricolor was created and inspired by the ribbon cockades of fighters wore on their hats at the time. The colors have many meanings and have changed in size over time until Napoleon decreed that they should all be the same size. The blue for Paris, also the bourgeois and the fraternity, Blanc for Saint Martin, the clergy, egalite, and the royalists, and finally rouge for the city of Paris as well, as Saint Denis, the nobility, and even Liberte. You could take your pick, as there are many versions of what each of these colors mean. When Louis XVIII and the monarchy returned, so did the blue flag with the Fleur de Lise. So the triumphant moment the tricolor returned in 1830 was quite significant. As the sun rose on the morning of July 29th, the royal guard, king, and Polignac knew they had been beaten. A third of their 8,000 soldiers had been killed and they were outnumbered, and even more protesters arrived overnight. Charles X of Polignac fled to the Chateau de Saint-Cloud and discussed how they would survive this. Other leaders were proposed for the chamber, but back in Paris, Adolphe Thiers and the leaders of the Liberal Party weren't having it. The Marquise de Lafayette, the war hero and member of the chamber, had been opposed to Charles X and his move to absolute monarchy. At the start of the uprising, Lafayette was hoisted as the leader of the newly restored National Guard, even at 73 years old. As the hours ticked by in July 29th, the leaders, including Theres and Lafayette, met with the Duke d'Orléans in the Palais Royal and put their support behind the man of the people, quote unquote. On July 30th, the deputies voted 47 to 3 to name the Duke d'Orléans the lieutenant general of the kingdom. Meanwhile, Charles was still holding tight and naming his own government. It took quite a bit of convincing, but the Duke accepted on July 31st. Charles X would finally abdicate the throne on August 2nd, but tried to name his son Louis de France as Louis XIX, heir to the throne, followed by his nine-year-old grandson, Henri d'Artois, as their heir. His story and that of his mother's is a great one, and I will add it to my list for an upcoming episode. It involves hiding in a chimney. Since there was never a Louis XIX or Henry V, King of France, you know that didn't quite work out how Charles wanted it to. The Duke d'Orleans on August 9th, 1830, in the Palais Bourbon took the name Louis-Philippe, King of the French. Very important distinction. The July monarchy would reign for 18 years until another revolution took him down in 1848, and in comes Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. It was on this penultimate day, 196 years ago, that the uprising inspired a 32-year-old artist Eugene Delacroix, sitting in it as atelier a mile down the river at 15K Voltaire. Delacroix was moved to capture the moment of the trois glorieuses jour. In 1818, Delacroix's good friend Taylor Jericho painted the monumental Raft of the Medusa. Listen to that past episode for more. The current event painting won over plenty of fans and skeptics. History paintings is the lexicon of art, were deemed the pinnacle of artist style, but they were very rarely painted so close to the moment of the actual event. Another thing his pal Jericho did. After the untimely death of his friend in 1824, Delacroix was thrust upon his own throne as the leader of the romantic movement, although reluctantly. On October 12th, 1830, in a letter Delacroix wrote to his brother, Charles Henri, I have undertaken a modern subject, a barricade, and if I have not conquered for the fatherland, at least I will paint for it. This has put me in a good mood, and he did just that. For three months he sketched and painted from September 20th to mid-December 1830, an astonishing quick period to create such a large piece and bring the entire moment to life. The entire scene was one of the lower and upper classes, as well as men of all ages, united. This was exactly why the three-day revolution is marked as such a defining moment of French history. As told in art and also remembered by the July column in the Place de la Bestie, it was a mix of all classes that stood up against the monarchy. While the first revolution began with the poor versus the monarchy, the July Revolution saw all classes in arms together. Delacroix perfectly captures this in the Grand Tableau. To the left of center, we see what appears to be a wealthy man wearing a top hat. Many incorrectly identified as a self-portrait of the artist, but it's most likely Delacroix's close friend Frederic Villot, artist and curator of the Department of Paintings at the Musee de Louvre. Villot was the first to write the record of paintings of the Louvre and a description of each in 1851. Delacroix was a bonapartist. His father, Charles Francois Delacroix, served under the Empire as a prefect, and a man rumored that could have been his father, Talleyrand, was a minister of Napoleon until he turned on him. A few things were added to the painting to give a little nod to Napoleon. The man on the left in the white shirt carries a brickhead sword used by the Napoleonic armies. Representing a print worker, Delacroix added a few details that link to the 1830 Revolution to the Vendice War of 1793. Adding the handkerchief of Cholet, a very noticeable symbol in Ryland cry at his waist that holds his gun. In the background, now clearly visible since the most recent restoration, is a gentleman wearing a Napoleonic bicorn hat. Just below, crawling from the edge of the painting, is a young boy wearing a national guard cap, the same guard the king dissolved at the start of the year, but the people and leaders of the left brought it back. Below on the left edge of the painting is a figure often called Hector, in reference to Homer's poem The Iliade. Hector is killed and dragged behind Achilles' chariot, a scene depicted many times, including Jacques-Louis David. For Delacroix, it's another artist he's paying homage to, Theodore Jericho. While painting the raft of the Medusa, Jericho had such trouble painting the feet of one of the figures that he gave up and covered them with socks. Delacroix put one blue sock on this man, which signifies the men the soldiers were pulling from their homes and killing on the street. On the lower right, a Swiss soldier of the Royal Guard in his coat recalls the Swiss guards that were killed in the August 10, 1792 Siege of the Tuileries. Beside him, a French Croissier soldier is dressed in armor, has died, and his head is down. Walk down a few steps to the left of Liberty to see another Jericho painting of the wound de Croissier in 1814 for the full look of the uniform. In the center is impossible not to be drawn to the lovely allegory of liberty, which is also known as the symbol of the Republic, Marianne. In her gray and yellow tinted cream dress, she bears her breasts in homage to motherhood and the birth of the nation. Inspired by the Greek statuary and the goddess victory, the beautiful draping of her dress is reminiscent of my favorite piece in the Louvre, the Winged Victory of Samothrace. However, Delacroix never would have seen this beauty. It was discovered in 1863, the same year of Delacroix's death. Only her surviving torso was on display from 1865 to 1871. Delacroix was a master of colors and uses them perfectly in his painting, but with very few hues. Blue, blanc, and rouge stand out in this painting exactly as they should, and every variation of gray from the darkest to the lightest. Using color and light, he directs your eye to what he wants you to see first the figure of liberty and the French flag. Delacroix also uses it on the man below who's crawling up the barricade and looking up at the goddess liberty. The last figure Delacroix painted, the print worker, is in his blue shirt with a bit of white peeking out and his red sash. Also evokes a flag and that of the people devoting themselves to liberty. When the painting was first exhibited, her Frisian cap was a much brighter red, and he was asked to mute the color to a deeper shade in 1855. The cap itself dates back to Roman times when it was placed on freed slaves and thus an image of freedom. In her left hand, she holds a rifle that brings a contemporary influence into this Greek and Roman image. While Liberty holds up the French tricolore, she turns her perfectly sculpted face of a Roman coin back to the crown and has gathered to follow her. At her side is a young boy with two pistols in the air and an ammo bag around his torso, which he took off a guard and was ready to take up the fight today and into the future. The classic pyramid structure, much like Jericho's raft at the Medusa, is a mix of hope and despair. At the top of the pyramid you have the flag, and as your eye travels down to the base, there is death. In the top right, don't miss the towers of Notre Dame du Paris. The symbol of France and the conservative monarchy was topped with a tiny French tricolore visible against the smoke as the rise of the French Republic was underway. Accepted on April 13, 1831, for the salon, it would be unveiled in the Salon Carret of the Louvre on May 1st. It was number 511 in the catalogue. It was one of the largest salons with 3,211 pieces exhibited, of which 52 reflected the July Revolution in paintings, drawings, or sculpture. Displayed under title, the scene of the city. Adolf Thiers was worried it would inspire another uprising and had it removed and returned to Dalacroix in 1839. The painting was hidden away in the Val d'Oise with his aunt Felicite Reasoner until 1848. Returned to the Musee de Luxembourg, but it was kept hidden until the 1855 Universal Exhibition, when he also had a darken her cap. Special permission had to be obtained for the unveiling, and after the painting went back into storage. In 1863, when it was finally returned to the public with the Luxembourg, it was too late for the master to see it hung. The father of the romantic movement was gone on August 13, 1863. In November 1874, it finally appeared in the Musee de Louvre in the Salle des États, eventually moving to the Salle Molienne, where you could still see it today. The last restoration of Liberty of Leading the People was done in the summer of 1949 following World War II. The varnish was lightened, but multiple overpaintings were also discovered, done by the restorer at the time by Michael Zayzo. At the time, Zayzo added orange highlights to the dress to create folds and green to the sky that altered the clouds and smoke. They weren't noticeable until under the watchful eye of these C2RMF restorers in 2024. The restoration took six months from mid-October 2023 to April 2024 and returned to the Saint Moulien on Thursday, May 2nd, 2024, where I was there first thing in the morning to see its return. Today, with the help of advanced technology, restoration starts long before they touch the canvas. With the assistance of ultraviolet infrared refectory and false color infrared. Through the X-rays, they could see the multiple adjustments Delacroix made before the final composition, many of them in the positioning of the key figure spaces. Originally, the face of Liberty was looking a bit more straight ahead and both eyes were visible. An early sketch held by the Musee Delacroix shows Liberty looking straight ahead with her flag flying to the right. The artist would do dozens and dozens of sketches, and by the time it was ready to paint, the subject was worked out. Although there were a few changes found under the x-rays. Just below, the man in the blue shirt was also changed to be captured in profile. The young boy next to Liberty was initially sketched closer to her but later separated, allowing him to stand on his own and giving him greater importance. In the 2024 restoration, once the layers of varnish were removed, the figure of the young boy literally steps in front of Liberty. Prior to that, it looked more like they were side by side. Once clean, the depth was revealed. Delacro's last addition was a man in the blue shirt looking up at Liberty as if he was crawled into the scene, giving him a sense of movement. The restoration of Liberty was the fourth in the undertaking of bringing the master of colors paintings back to their vivid creation. Normally large companies and benefactors contributed to the high cost of restorations, but with a painting that could signify the very essence of France, the Louvre and the state took care of the cost. Stand back and take in the entire painting. The lower parts are dark and reflect the reality of the uprising, conflict, and death. In the center, the glowing warp of liberty represents the dawn of a new day, a path forward and better times ahead. Within the Sal Moulien, four other paintings tied to Delacroix's Liberty. Another restored Delacroix masterpiece is just behind. The women from Algiers in their apartment was painted four years after Liberty in 1834. Delacroix uses the same profile of the seated woman on the right in white as the same face as Liberty. In 1808, Antoine Jean Gros painted Napoleon on the battlefield of Ilo, February 9, 1807. It was commissioned by Denon to be used to create a large tapestry. Multiple figures inspired Delacroix, including the bodies in the lower center and the gentleman on his knees looking up at Napoleon. Then there's Jericho's rafted the Medusa and the figure with socks alongside his other painting of the wounded cuirassier. One painting that might have inspired Delacroix for the entire scene is Jean-Jacques Le Barbier's Jean Hachette on the Siege of Beauvais in 1472. Sadly, it was destroyed in 1940 in the town of Beauvais. In the last 196 years, Delacroix's masterpiece has continued to inspire. Frederick Bartoli visited the Musee de Luxembourg and saw our lovely Liberty, which inspired the design of his very own, the Statue of Liberty. Today, Delacroix's well-known painting has been copied onto clothes, reimagined to billboards, inspired other artists to adopt as their own, and projected onto the side of a plane, and even my beloved swatch watch. The former mayor of Paris, Annie Dalgo, had a great contemporary version created using stencils by Christian Goumet in her office at the Hotel de Ville. Apropos, as the event takes place just outside her window. Then there is a cover of the Cold Plays 2008 Viva La Vida album. One day in the Louvre, I overheard. Somebody say that they thought the painting was done by Coldplay for their album. That is when I just had to shake my head. Another favorite was an advertising campaign by Qualcomm Technology that reimagined the scene from the other side. A photo was hung on the Palais de Louvre outside the window of the Musée des Arts Decoratif in December 2021. It is the only painting Delacroix created in his entire career that represented Paris, and in turn, he represented Liberté, Egalité, and Fraternite of France. It really is one of my favorite paintings, and I love going to see it in the Louvre. And I just was in there the other morning, and everybody goes straight to the Mona Lisa, so I had about a half an hour all to myself sitting in front of her. And it really is amazing when there's four other paintings in the room just within steps that tie into this painting and what Dalacois did. It's just amazing. But I hope you enjoyed this, and I hope you've gone to the Louvre and seen the painting. If not, I'm sure you've seen it used. It's probably next to the Mona Lisa, it is definitely one of the most famous paintings in the Louvre, but it's probably the most famous painting that this that is tied to France in general. I think every textbook uses it. It is all the time it is mislabeled as the big revolution that was in the 18th century. So now you know. So next time you see somebody post that in regards to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, you could say, no, excuse me, that is the three glorious days of 1830. Thank you. I'm just hopefully we could, you know, between all of us, we could maybe fix this and get, you know, get it attributed to the right thing. But it's such an amazing painting. And after the restoration, it just was, it's just amazing. They had no idea that underneath the dress that it was really these shades of gray that were then painted with some yellow, but because of the yellowing of the varnish over time, it turned the whole dress into it looking like it was this creamy yellow color. And they had no idea until they started going into it with the restoration to know that was there. And I got to go to a conference where the two restorers actually spoke about it. And you could just see it in their face that they were just like, oh my gosh, we, you know, we discovered this thing, which is so fantastic and amazing. So definitely check out my website. And also, I was out early, early this morning and did a video around Hotel de Ville and the Palais Royale, and also showed you where Delacroix lived. But at the end of it, I'm going to put up some video that I actually did of the painting and some, I'll do some before and afters as well from before the restoration and after. So you could check out. But last week also I mentioned at the end of last week's episode that I was going to go back in because last Wednesday they reopened the gallery d'Apalon for the first time since the theft nine months ago. And I was there and I got there just I was up at the room within minutes of the museum opening. The doors weren't open yet because the Minister of Culture, she was in there speaking with the president of the Louvre to the press. And about 10 minutes after we got to walk in, and it was actually kind of overwhelming, a little emotional to be back in there just to remember what happened and walking in the same steps where the theft occurred. So, but check out my Instagram or my Facebook because I put some videos up there and some photos, and the room is completely empty. There's nothing in there anymore. They took out the beautiful early 19th century cases that were done for that room. So it's pretty, it's pretty, it's pretty sad. But it's beautiful, and now actually people look up at the ceiling more. So that's great, but there's still lots of people in there just taking pictures and selfies and videos of them walking. But you know, there are people that are actually looking up at the ceiling and it's gorgeous. And I will share more about that soon because I just was waiting for the room to reopen so I could do it for you on video as well. So check it out and also please share this too with anybody that's maybe coming to Paris or just loves history. And if you are coming to Paris, make sure you book a tour with me. And if you need help planning your trip to Paris, reach out to me and I could do custom planning design just for you. All right, everybody. A biento.