Probably the most famous work of the head of the French romantic school of painting, Eugene Delacroix, “Freedom on the Barricades”, created under the impression of the revolution in Paris in July 1830, is devoted to the struggle for freedom and independence of France. Faced with the task of depicting the abstract concept of “freedom”, the artist used allegory .

Born in a turbulent revolutionary time, the dream of freedom, bringing change to life, was embodied in a half-naked woman. In her appearance, the features of samples of ancient art are visible: the proportions of her face correspond to the canons of beauty that Greek sculpture obeyed. But this modern Venus has lost the detachment of the Greek prototypes and has become the embodiment of the ideals of the new time.

Loose clothes, fluttering in the wind and giving her image and picture the dynamics characteristic of romanticism, are complemented by a cap of Jacobins (members of the political revolutionary movement), a gun, a bayonet and a banner. The heroine is given a central place on the canvas, although initially Delacroix did not intend to depict her as an allegory, but wanted to confine himself to the romantic death of the beautiful hero of the barricades. The girl calls to go forward, even if the path is blocked by the lifeless bodies of those who have already given their lives in the struggle.

People, mostly students, took to the streets to demand the lifting of a number of government restrictions. The artist painted himself among the rebels. Too realistically depicted victims, placed in the foreground of the picture, were blamed on the artist as shocking and shocking the public.