The exhibition that invokes the muralism of Guillermo Ceniceros
September, 29 - October, 9
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Liberty Leading the People, the emblematic painting by the romantic painter Eugéne Delacroix (1798-1863), was taken down from the walls of the Louvre Museum for a restoration that will last until spring 2024.
The famous bare-breasted woman brandishing the French flag over a barricade, amidst insurgents in the heart of Paris, was painted by Delacroix in 1830, the year of the fall of King Charles X and the accession of Louis Philippe One to the throne.
The work soon became a liberal and revolutionary symbol inside and outside France. It is a large format oil painting (3.25 m by 2.60 m) and one of the most well-known and visited paintings in the Louvre.
"This allegory painted by Delacroix is also one of the most famous images in the world. Its long-awaited restoration will restore all its beauty," declared the president of the Museum, Laurence des Cars, in a statement.
The unhanging operation was carried out in the large Mollien room of the Louvre, where Delacroix's work is exhibited alongside well-known paintings such as "The Raft of the Medusa", another great romantic canvas by Théodore Géricault (1818-1819). Over almost 100 years, the varnishes on "Liberty..." have oxidized and yellowed the painting, altering in particular the blue, white and red color range of the canvas.
The restoration has been prepared "for a long time using x-rays and analysis," the head of the Louvre's paintings department, Sébastien Allard, told AFP.
Next week that same room will once again host another enormous, recently restored Delacroix painting, "The Death of Sardanapalus." This large-format canvas was cleaned for ten months, and should return to its location on September 27, with spectacular colors completely renewed. The operation is part of an "important restoration campaign launched in 2019 for the large canvases of the 19th century," he added.
The objective is that all these great works in the Mollien room will be gradually restored in the coming years. Since 2015, the Louvre Museum has carried out more than 200 restorations of such important works as "La Belle Ferronnière" by Leonardo da Vinci (2015) or "The Women of Algiers" by Delacroix, last year. The Louvre has some 4,500 paintings on permanent display.
The famous bare-breasted woman brandishing the French flag over a barricade, amidst insurgents in the heart of Paris, was painted by Delacroix in 1830, the year of the fall of King Charles X and the accession of Louis Philippe One to the throne.
The work soon became a liberal and revolutionary symbol inside and outside France. It is a large format oil painting (3.25 m by 2.60 m) and one of the most well-known and visited paintings in the Louvre.
"This allegory painted by Delacroix is also one of the most famous images in the world. Its long-awaited restoration will restore all its beauty," declared the president of the Museum, Laurence des Cars, in a statement.
The unhanging operation was carried out in the large Mollien room of the Louvre, where Delacroix's work is exhibited alongside well-known paintings such as "The Raft of the Medusa", another great romantic canvas by Théodore Géricault (1818-1819). Over almost 100 years, the varnishes on "Liberty..." have oxidized and yellowed the painting, altering in particular the blue, white and red color range of the canvas.
The restoration has been prepared "for a long time using x-rays and analysis," the head of the Louvre's paintings department, Sébastien Allard, told AFP.
Next week that same room will once again host another enormous, recently restored Delacroix painting, "The Death of Sardanapalus." This large-format canvas was cleaned for ten months, and should return to its location on September 27, with spectacular colors completely renewed. The operation is part of an "important restoration campaign launched in 2019 for the large canvases of the 19th century," he added.
The objective is that all these great works in the Mollien room will be gradually restored in the coming years. Since 2015, the Louvre Museum has carried out more than 200 restorations of such important works as "La Belle Ferronnière" by Leonardo da Vinci (2015) or "The Women of Algiers" by Delacroix, last year. The Louvre has some 4,500 paintings on permanent display.
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