ironically, delacroix's liberty was bought by the liberal king louis philippe, who never dared show it. it wasn't publicly exhibited until 1861. two years afterwards, a distant ancestor of delacroix's allegorical figure arrived in paris-- the winged victory of samothrace. it was sculpted in ancient greece in about 200 b.c. like liberty, victory is portrayed as female-- inspiring, alluring even, as she alights gently on the prow of a victorious warship, the wind streaming against her body. it's a theme which turns up in many forms in the story of western art. like liberty, victory is an idealized personification of an abstraction for which men and women have been prepared to die. in the 18th century, the age of reason used symbols like this in the belief that the humane values of classical tradition could be attained even today. the revolution hung on to such symbols, both to express their high hopes, and in the end, to justify their worst excesses. these are still potent myths in our culture today. in the story of western art, though, by the middle of the 19th century, change is in the