Liberty (1848–49): Art, History and Details

Liberty (1848–49) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Jean-François Millet (French, 1814–1875).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Liberty relates to Jean-François Millet's entrance into the 1848 competition for an official painted figure representing the second French Republic. Millet did not win the competition and his painted Republic no longer exists, but this representation of a related concept—liberty—was inspired by his contest participation. He also drew allegories of the other two fundamental concepts in French Republicanism: equality and fraternity.

Object facts

• Title: Liberty
• Date: 1848–49
• Creator attribution: Jean-François Millet (French, 1814–1875)
• Culture: France, 19th century
• Type: Drawing
• Technique: black chalk and pastel
• Dimensions: Sheet: 47.2 x 31.7 cm (18 9/16 x 12 1/2 in.)
• Collection: DR - French
• Department: Drawings
• Accession number: 2008.395

Collection credit

Bequest of Muriel Butkin

Further reading listed by the museum

• Parke Bernet Galleries, New York. Property of Robert Cluett, Jr., J. Theus Munds, John P. Grier, and Other Owners. November 24, 1939. Lot 12.
• Shepherd Gallery. Non-Dissenters Fifth Exhibition: One Hundred and Seventy French Nineteenth Century Drawings, Pastels and Watercolors. Exh. Cat. New York: Shepherd Gallery, 1976.
• Masheck, Joseph, "Current and Forthcoming Exhibitions: New York," Burlington Magazine 119, no. 889 (April 1977), 307-308.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.