Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

World

France’s iconic Liberty gets Louvre facelift

The Delacroix painting will undergo restoration until early 2024
The Delacroix painting will undergo restoration until early 2024 - Copyright AFP Jose Jordan
The Delacroix painting will undergo restoration until early 2024 - Copyright AFP Jose Jordan

One of France’s most iconic paintings, “Liberty Leading the People” by Eugene Delacroix, was taken down from the walls of the Louvre on Wednesday for a restoration expected to last until next spring.

The famous topless woman, brandishing the red, white and blue flag on a revolutionary barricade was painted by Delacroix in 1830. 

The oil painting, which measures 3.25 by 2.60 metres, has pride of place in one of the large red rooms of the Louvre in Paris.

The restoration has been prepared long in advance using X-ray analysis of the canvas. It is part of a major restoration campaign launched in 2019 for large-format paintings from the 19th century, said Sebastien Allard, director of the painting department. 

One priority is to remove the varnish that has oxidised on the surface, giving a yellow tint to the red, white and blue sections of the painting, he said.

The painting commemorates the July Revolution of 1830, when King Charles X was overthrown and replaced by his cousin, Louis Philippe, marking a shift towards constitutional monarchy.

But the powerful image of the female figure leading a diverse group of revolutionaries has come to represent struggles for rights and freedoms far beyond its origins. 

The Louvre has carried out some 200 restorations since 2015, including of Leonardo da Vinci’s “La Belle Ferronniere”, Titian’s “Jupiter and Antiope” and several by Delacroix such as “Women of Algiers” and “The Massacre at Chios”.

The Louvre, the largest museum in the world, contains around 6,400 paintings, including some 4,500 on permanent display.

AFP
Written By

With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

You may also like:

Tech & Science

CMG is integrating advanced simulation tools with NVIDIA hardware and high-performance computing software to accelerate time-to-decision for energy leaders.

Tech & Science

Identity and credential misconfigurations represent a staggering 80% of security exposures across organizations.

Business

President William Ruto welcomed Kithure Kindiki as his new deputy president at a swearing-in ceremony - Copyright AFP Sujit JaiswalKenya plans to reintroduce some...

Social Media

American intelligence officials on Friday blamed Russia for a fake video of a Haitian immigrant claiming to have voted multiple times.