Masterpieces of Art and Architecture: Delacroix, Eiffel, and Gaudí
Liberty Leading the People: A Symbol of the French Revolution
On July 28, 1830, French liberal revolutionaries overthrew King Charles X and installed Louis Philippe of Orleans, the so-called Bourgeois King. This episode became the subject of Delacroix’s most famous painting, Liberty Leading the People, a work with a certain dose of allegory that reflects a contemporary fact. The woman representing Liberty appears stripped to the waist, holding a rifle in her right hand and the tricolor flag in her left. She is joined by members of different social classes—a worker with a sword, a bourgeois in a top hat carrying a shotgun, a teenager with two guns, etc.—signifying the wide participation in the revolutionary process. At the foot of Liberty, a dying man stares at her, indicating that it was worth fighting for. With this work, Delacroix shows his ideology and his facet as a painter of his time. The composition is part of a pyramid whose base is formed by the bodies that have fallen in the struggle against tyranny, illuminated to emphasize their importance. The maelstrom of battle is manifested in the dust, blurring the outlines of the group of figures placed after Liberty. The foreshortening and movement of the image recall the Baroque, as in the Massacre of Chios and the Death of Sardanapalus. It was submitted to the Salon of 1831 and purchased by Louis Philippe for the Royal Museum.
The Eiffel Tower: A Monumental Feat of Engineering
The Eiffel Tower was created by Gustave Eiffel for the Universal Exhibition of Paris in 1889. Since his project was accepted, it received all sorts of criticism and adverse comments. Some specialists claimed that it was mathematically impossible to build such a slender tower and predicted it would collapse beyond a height of 228 meters. The tower ultimately reached 300 meters tall, rivaling the most prestigious buildings of the past.
Right from the start of work, specialists and mathematicians were committed to demonstrating its inevitable collapse once it reached 228 meters in height. On February 14, 1887, the pages of “Le Temps” published a manifesto entitled “Protest of Artists,” which rejected the project with the following arguments: “Writers, sculptors, painters, and passionate lovers of the hitherto untouched beauty of Paris, we come to protest with all our strength and all our indignation on behalf of French taste and in the name of French art and history threatened, against the erection in the very heart of our capital of the useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower. How long will the city of Paris be associated with the baroque and mercantile imaginings of a constructor of machines to disgrace it? For the Eiffel Tower, that not even American trade wants, is, do not hesitate, the dishonor of Paris. We all feel it, we all say it, and we all deeply regret it, and we are but a faint echo of the universal opinion, so legitimately alarmed.”
Casa Milà (La Pedrera): Gaudí’s Architectural Masterpiece
Pere Milà was impressed by the Casa Batlló, designed by Antoni Gaudí between 1904 and 1906, so he decided to entrust the same architect with the construction of a rental dwelling house on land greater than 1,000 sqm of his property, also located on Paseo de Gracia, at the corner with Provence street. Gaudí designed one of his landmark works, using wavy shapes, reminiscent of beach dunes. In La Pedrera, as the building is also called, we can find the most identifiable features of Gaudí’s architecture, giving the building a sculptural treatment. The structure is based on forged metal beams and slabs, supported by metal girders on piers, either iron or masonry. The only structural walls of the building are found in the stairs, allowing for modifications to the distribution of flats by relocating the partitions, with the possibility of eliminating them.
The wavy facade, supported by rolling girders embedded in the stone and connected by beams of different lengths, is decorated with slabs of plant forms, in line with Casa Batlló. Another of the most spectacular features of the building is the treatment of the terrace chimneys, where the architect applies the technique of trencadís that characterizes much of his work, especially the Park Güell. Today, this building—owned by the financial institution Caixa Catalunya—is considered a cultural world heritage site by UNESCO.
Gaudí encountered numerous problems during the construction of this work. Barcelona City Council ordered work to stop two years after it began because a column on Paseo de Gracia exceeded the established limits. The projections also caused problems, as well as the overall height and volume of the building, forcing the City Council to either demolish the attic or pay a fine of 100,000 pesetas, a fifth of the total value of the building. The lawsuit ultimately concluded that the building was of great artistic value.