the french historian michelet wrote, "france herself-- our whole society, is on that raft." the clouds of revolution were gathering again. at the end of july 1830, paris was up in arms. it was the end of the bourbons, the ruling family of france for many centuries. everyone hoped in liberty-- in freedom. it was a great moment of french history. delacroix was not a political radical. he was a famous artist at this moment. he understood it was the occasion to paint a great picture, and he painted a very great picture. it's, of course, a political picture. it is also a history picture. by history, i mean it's an allegory-- an allegory of freedom-- and the lady in the middle of the picture represents freedom and liberty. she has in her hand the french flag, and she is dominating the picture, where you see a lot of people-- dead soldiers, workers, an intellectual wearing a hat. [sounds of rioting] all these figures are taken in everyday life. [gun@hots] the figure of liberty herself is wearing a slipped dress, barefooted like a greek goddess. this woman of the people is no longer