Alt Title

Nineteenth century feminine archetypes||Feminist approach to the allegory of liberty

Publication Date

2000

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Degree Name

M.A. (Master of Arts)

Legacy Department

School of Art

LCSH

Liberty in art; Women in art--History--19th century; Symbolism in art--France; Feminism and art--France--History--19th century

Abstract

This thesis began as a study of images of women used in representation of strong, masculine, abstract ideals. It was narrowed to discuss images of Liberty in France during the nineteenth century. The research questioned why strongly masculine ideals such as liberty were represented with female figures during an era when the feminine half of humanity was considered at best second class and at worst nonexistent. French politics, culture, art, and literature were studied to form an idea of the pervasive views existing during that century. The thesis looked at two prevailing archetypes of female imagery that existed in nineteenth-century French art and literature, the Virgin Mary/Mother and the Temptress Eve/Whore. The thesis examined these two archetypes in terms of their various characteristics and discussed their use throughout the era. Then, a comparison was made between these archetypes and the allegorical images of Liberty. Also, the idea and use of allegory was studied throughout history. This allowed for a more accurate view of allegorical use during that time. Finally, the image of Liberty itself, in all its various forms, both twodimensional and three-dimensional as well as live representation, was extensively researched. Many variations exist and were popular during the nineteenth century. For the thesis itself, several examples were noted and two main artistic renderings were studied in depth. These were Eugene Delacroix's painting Liberty Leading the People and Francois Rude's sculptural relief Departure of the Volunteers.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references (pages [99]-101)

Extent

vi, 101 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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