  About the Artwork
  
  
  François Rude commemorated a crucial moment in modern history through the powerful language of classical allegory. The Departure of the Volunteers of 1792 honors France’s first citizen army, formed in response to a threatened invasion by a Prussian/Austrian coalition intent on restoring the deposed Bourbon monarchy. Dressed in classical armor and carrying ancient weapons, men ranging from youth to old age rally under the command of a fierce, female warrior. Born up by wings and wearing a Phrygian cap (worn by freed slaves in Roman times), she represents the victorious spirit of Liberty, conceived as the embodiment of France during the Revolution of 1789. This highly finished plaster relief—one of a few of Rude’s models to survive—so closely resembles the final version sculpted on a colossal scale for the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs-Elysées in Paris that it may have served as a guide for the stone carvers. 
From Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 89 (2015)
  
  
  Title
  Departure of the Volunteers of 1792 (The Marseillaise)
  
  
  Artwork Date
  ca. 1835
  
  Artist
  François Rude
  
  
  
  Life Dates
  1784-1855
  
  
  
  
  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  French
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
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  Medium
  Original plaster model
  
  
  Dimensions
  Unframed: 42 × 24 1/2 × 7 inches (106.7 × 62.2 × 17.8 cm)
  Framed: 51 1/2 × 36 1/2 × 7 inches (130.8 × 92.7 × 17.8 cm)
  Including base (depth including bracket mount): 10 1/2 inches (26.7 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Sculpture
  
  
  Department
  European Sculpture and Dec Arts
  
  
  Credit
  Founders Society Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Fund
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  2001.67
  
  
  Copyright
  Public Domain
