Representation of Women in The Revolution

The Intervention of the Sabine Women (1799)

Women are often represented as leaders of the Revolution in paintings. Besides the famous painting of a woman in the French Revolution, Liberty Leading the People (La Liberté Guidant le Peuple) by Eugène Delacroix, there are some other paintings of women in the revolution period. Here are some of them:

1.The Intervention of the Sabine Women (1799)
This painting depicts a piece of the story of the abduction of the Sabine women by the Ancient Roman people. This painting was created by Jacques-Louis David, a French Painter who is famous for his Neo-Classical style. The figure of a woman in white in this painting is mesmerizing, with strong and calm characters at the same time. She is Hersilia, Romulus’s wife and daughter of the leader of the Sabines. She is rushing between her husband and her father and laying her babies between them.

The abduction of the Sabine Women is a tragedy in Ancient Rome’s legendary stories in which Romulus ordered the men of Rome to committ a mass abduction of young women from other cities around them. In the early history of Rome, Romulus was concerned about only a few women who lived in his region and it means that they would also have only a few new generations. The Romans then abducted the women around their region. The Sabines refused to allow their women to marry the Romans. During a festival of Neptune Equester, the Romans abducted the Sabine women and fought the Sabine men.

Molly Pitcher (1917)

2.Molly Pitcher, American Woman Patriot (1917)
The woman in this painting is Molly Pitcher. She was portrayed as a strong woman during the war. Although the real existence of Molly Pitcher was debated among the historians, she remained to become a personification of all women who take part in America’s War of Independence. Some historians identified Molly Pitcher as Mary Ludwig Hays who joined in the Pennsylvania artillery in 1778. Mary’s task during the fighting is providing water, therefore her nickname is Molly Pitcher. Many paintings and pictures portrayed her struggle during the war period.

3. Woman in the Russian Revolution (1920)
This poster illustrates the working woman with the text “What the October Revolution gave to women workers and peasants”. Her hand suggests that the results of the revolution were a library, a cafeteria, a workers’ club, a school for adults, and a ‘house for a mother and child.’ This poster is captivating, although this was a propaganda instrument, it has not lost its beauty, especially in the composition of colors and lines.

All of these pictures describe the strength of women in a revolution period. Although these paintings were depicted from the masculine perspective, at least it can remind us of the role of women that are often ignored both in peace and war situations. These paintings not only reveal the contribution of women in revolution but also make people realize that the role of women is one of the important forces in building society.