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| June 2009 |
| Billie Silvey |
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| Revolution |
| Another theme associated with the Romantic movement is that of liberty and freedom. The period from 1760-1830 is known as the Age of Revolution, as first the Americans, then the French, then the Haitians, Belgians and Swiss, overthrew monarchies in favor of democracy. Freedom was in the air, as portrayed in Delacroix's massive Liberty Leading the People. In it, Liberty is shown as a woman leading the army of French revolutionaries.. Even in exile, Byron’s restless spirit sought, not just sexual gratification or artistic inspiration, but action for a cause, a cause worth living--and dying--for. He traveled through Switzerland and through the Alps into Italy, where he became connected with the Carbonari in their struggle for independence from Austria. |
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| From Italy, Byron traveled to Greece, where he joined the Greeks' fight to free themselves from Turkish dominance. With a background in the classics familiar to all British schoolboys, Byron felt he was defending the cause of civilization as he gathered money and munitions, plotted strategy and drilled his troops on the marshy fields around the small town of Missolonghi. There, he caught the fever that cost him his life, but there he was able to redeem himself, winning a place in history as both a poet and a defender of freedom. |
| The painting above is Delacroix's Greece Expiring on the Ruins of Missolonghi, painted as much in Byron's honor as in honor of the Greek freedom fighters. To this day Byron is celebrated as a hero in Greece. |