Question

Who were Marianne and Germania? What was the importance of the way in which they were portrayed?

Answer 1

Marianne

• Marianne was a female allegory invented by artists in the nineteenth century, to represent France.
• To remind the public of the national symbol of unity and to persuade them to identify with it, Statues of Marianne were erected in public squares.
• Marianne images were marked on stamps and coins.
• Female allegory was used by French artists in French Revolution to portray ideas such as Republic, Justice and Liberty.
• Characteristics of Marianne were drawn from those of Republic and Liberty – the cockade, the tricolour, the red cap.
• The attributes of Justice are generally a blindfolded woman carrying a pair of weighing scales while liberty was the broken chain or red cap.
• As Marianne was a popular Christian name, it was chosen as an allegory of France.
• The idea of a people’s nation was underlined by Marianne.

Germania

• The Allegory of Germany was Germania.
• As the German oak stands for heroism, Germania wears a crown of oak leaves.

Personification of a Nation – Artists Used Female Figure to Portray a Nation

An allegory of the nation was a female figure. To personify a nation, artists in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries found a way.It was about giving a face to a nation. Countries were represented as if they were a person.

• Female figures were used to portray a nation.
• In a concrete form, to give an abstract idea of the nation, the female form was chosen. The female form that was chosen did not stand for any particular female in real life.