Nationalism in Europe 5 Flashcards
how were nations represented
Artists in
the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries found to give a face to a nation by
personifying a nation. In other words they represented a country as
if it were a person. Nations were then portrayed as female figures.
The female form that was chosen to personify the nation did not
stand for any particular woman in real life; rather it sought to give
the abstract idea of the nation a concrete form. That is, the female
figure became an allegory of the nation.
how was allegory used in french relvn
during the French Revolution artists used the
female allegory to portray ideas such as Liberty, Justice and the
Republic. These ideals were represented through specific objects or
symbols. As you would remember, the attributes of Liberty are the
red cap, or the broken chain, while Justice is generally a blindfolded
woman carrying a pair of weighing scales.
explain the allegory for france
Similar female allegories were invented by artists in the nineteenth
century to represent the nation. In France she was christened
Marianne, a popular Christian name, which underlined the idea of a
people’s nation. Her characteristics were drawn from those of Liberty
and the Republic – the red cap, the tricolour, the cockade. Statues
of Marianne were erected in public squares to remind the public of
the national symbol of unity and to persuade them to identify with
it. Marianne images were marked on coins and stamps.
explain the allegory for germany
Similarly, Germania became the allegory of the German nation. In
visual representations, Germania wears a crown of oak leaves, as
the German oak stands for heroism
