Liberator-Hero Analysis: Eulogies and Portraits

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Liberator-Hero AnalysisEulogies and Portraits
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What is a Liberator Hero?

• Circa 18th-19th c.
• Usually male
• Usually with military experience
• Intended to become a symbol (real or imagined) of
  what the revolution stands for)
• Reflects standards of the time
• Portrayed through portraits and eulogies

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George Washington

• Gilbert Stuart, one of the most noted
  portraitists of his time.
• April 12, 1796
• 8 feet by 5 feet
• Why didnt Stuart choose to paint Washington in
  uniform?

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George Washington

• Facial expression?
• Clothing? Pose? Books on the floor? Table leg?
  The chair in the background?
• What is the overall image that Stuart sought to
  convey of Washington? Of the American Revolution?

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Liberator-Hero

• Eulogy to George Washington
• Commissioned by the Massachusetts legislature and
  delivered in Bostons Old South Meeting House by
  Fisher Ames

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George Washington

• How does Ames portray Washington?
• When he spoke of Washington conducting a civil
  war with mildness, and a revolution with order,
  Ames was telling his listeners how HE wanted them
  to think about the nature of the Revolutionwhat
  was that?

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George Washington

• To Ames, what was the true glory of the American
  Revolution?
• Think about how Ames was trying to portray
  Washington as a liberator-hero

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Jean-Paul Marat

• Jacques Louis David
• Frances best known Neoclassical painter and
  supporter of French Revolution
• Arranged funeral of Marat
• one of the worlds most skillfully executed
  propaganda pictures

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Jean-Paul Marat

• Why did he choose to show Marat this way?
• Bath water tinted with blood, the bloody wound,
  the knife on the floor, the note of Corday
• Why did David ignore the truth in his painting?

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Jean-Paul Marat

• What image of Marat did David seek to
  communicate?
• What image of the French Revolution did the
  thousand who viewed the painting receive?
• Why were reproductions distributed by the
  thousands?

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Jean-Paul Marat

• Eulogy delivered to the National Convention by a
  Marat ally, F. E. Guiraut
• Member of the Paris Jacobin club
• Most widely circulated

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Jean-Paul Marat

• How did Guiraut portray Marat as a
  liberator-hero?
• What did Guiraut want the essence of the French
  Revolution to be?
• The name of the newspaperLAmi du Peupledoes
  Guiraut play on this title in the eulogy?

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Toussaint

• J. Barlow
• Know nothing about the artist
• How can we use Barlows portrait to analyze what
  Haitians thought of Toussaint as a
  liberator-hero?

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Toussaint

• Can we assume that Barlow painted Toussaint as
  he, himself, wanted to be portrayed?
• Clothing? Right hand rests on his sword?
  Haitis constitution? Background matter?

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Toussaint

• What image of Toussaint Louverture did Barlow
  seek to communicate?
• What image of the Haitian Revolution?

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Toussaint Louverture

• Part of 1814 manifesto written by Henri
  Christophe
• Rally Haitians to repulse French invasion of the
  island
• What lessons did Christophe intend that his
  readers learn from the life of Toussaint?

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Toussaint Louverture

• What did Christophe think of Toussaints goal to
  have all live in relative equality in Haiti?
• What does Christophe see as the true meaning of
  the Haitian Revolution?

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Simon Bolivar

• Describe what you see in this painting by Jose
  Gil da Castro.
• Compare this painting to the one of George
  Washington.
• How do you think Bolivar wanted to be remembered?

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Simon Bolivar

• Dr. Calcanos Oration at the reinterment of
  Bolivar (1876)
• Seeks to establish Bolivars role in Latin
  Americas greatness

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Simon Bolivar

• How does Calcano use hyperbole to emphasize
  Bolivars greatness?
• How does he characterize Bolivar as a
  liberator-hero?

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Conclusions

• What conclusions can you make about liberator
  heroes?
• How might you take this information and
  incorporate it within your baking?