French Revolutionary Art

Louis XVIII had come to power upon defeating Napolean with the help of several European allies. In 1824, his younger brother, Charles X, ascended to the throne. However, his religious and financial policies made him unpopular among the French population. After many arguments within the government, Charles dissolved parliament and signed the July Ordinances, which restricted the press and excluded the middle-class from elections. This resulted in chaos in the streets of paris, with blackades being set up and battles happening in the streets. A painting depicting one of these battles, "Battle outside the Hôtel de Ville" by Jean Victor Schnetz, is included above. The end result was that the revolutionaries won, and a new monarchy was constructed with Louis Phillipe of House Orleans as the leader. The image included on the home page, "Liberty Leading the People" by Eugene Delacroix in 1830, is another art piece glorifying the events of the July revolution.