It is one of the icons of the Louvre, “Liberty Leading the People”, painted in 1830 by Eugène Delacroix, was hung up in its exhibition room on Tuesday. It went into restoration last October.
:quality(50)/2023/07/07/64a7df4c5fe71_placeholder-36b69ec8.png)
Published
Reading time: 2 min
:quality(50)/2024/04/30/080-hl-acornu-2165563-6630c0bb410b9021358470.jpg)
It is undoubtedly the best-known painting in the Louvre museum after the Mona Lisa. Liberty Leading the Peoplethis painting by Eugène Delacroix, painted in 1830, returns to the walls of its exhibition room this Monday, April 30 after a restoration which lasted six months.
This restoration was eagerly awaited, because Eugène Delacroix’s most famous painting had not seen one for 75 years. “The first thing that jumps out at you is already this colored accord of blue-white-red, the accord of the tricolor flag.describes Sébastien Allard, director of the paintings department at the Louvre Museum. “What is also obvious is that with the lightening of the varnish, we have found the plans and therefore the momentum of Liberty”enthuses the expert.
“We really have Freedom coming at the viewer, either we follow it, or we are crushed by it.”
Sébastien Allard, director of the paintings department at the Louvre Museumat franceinfo
Two restorers, including Bénédicte Trémolières, focused for six months on Delacroix’s masterpiece in a museum room transformed into a workshop. It is indeed impossible to remove this very large format from the Louvre. They gradually removed the eight layers of varnish applied since 1949, thus rediscovering the true colors, notably on the dress of Liberty. “The dress, by the presence of the varnishes, seemed uniformly yellow. We realized that ultimately Delacroix had first worked on a dress which was more in gray-white tones, with bluish nuances, and on which he added touches of yellow which liven up this dress”explains Bénédicte Trémolières.
A risky resettlement
Visitors will therefore take a fresh look at the painting, the transfer of which between the restoration room and the exhibition room will take place on a trolley via the Louvre’s underground passages.
“There are several hundred meters of corridors to cross, we drive very slowly, we always have to be careful around doorways, ducts, cables, since the painting with its frame is almost three meters high.”
Côme Fabre, curator in the paintings departmentat franceinfo
For Sébastien Allard, the popularity of Liberty Leading the People has probably never been so strong. “It’s a table that is constantly reloaded depending on the events we experience, and in particular political events. It’s a table that has also been used very often in struggles for freedom around the world. So it’s an icon associated with the very idea of freedom,” he says.
In 2025, The Crusaders in Constantinople, another large format by Delacroix will in turn be restored. To see Liberty Leading the People at the Louvre, see you Thursday May 2, the museum being closed on May 1.