19/02/16 00:40:37.80 DcdirQrQ0.net
[Wikipedia]
Marianne
URLﾘﾝｸ(en.wikipedia.org)
Marianne is a national symbol of the French Republic, a personification of liberty and reason, and a portrayal of the Goddess of Liberty.
History
In classical times it was common to represent ideas and abstract entities by gods, goddesses and allegorical personifications.
During the French Revolution of 1789, many allegorical personifications of 'Liberty' and 'Reason' appeared.
These two figures finally merged into one: a female figure, shown either sitting or standing, and accompanied by various attributes, including the tricolor cockade and the Phrygian cap.
This woman typically symbolised Liberty, Reason, the Nation, the Homeland, and the civic virtues of the Republic
(Compare the Statue of Liberty, created as Liberty Enlightening the World by French artist Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, with a copy in both Paris and Saint-Etienne.)
A feminine allegory was also a manner to symbolise the breaking with the old monarchy headed by kings, and promote modern republican ideology.
Even before the French Revolution, the Kingdom of France was embodied in masculine figures, as depicted in certain ceilings of Palace of Versailles.
The use of this emblem was initially unofficial and very diverse.
A female allegory of Liberty and of the Republic makes an appearance in Eugene Delacroix's painting Liberty Leading the People, painted in July 1830 in honour of the Three Glorious Days (or July Revolution of 1830).