Eight layers of varnish had drowned iconic painting’s colours over time, as coating became yellow with oxidation
For almost 200 years, she has been the definitive symbol of the French republic. Now, after a much-needed facelift, Eugène Delacroix’s Liberty will rise above the fray of revolutionary anarchy in her true colours once more.
The 19th-century painter’s world-famous and widely copied Liberty Leading the People, depicting a bare-chested woman brandishing the French flag and leading armed men into battle, will be hung again at the Louvre art museum on Thursday, after a six-month effort to remove decades of varnish and grime.
