Thursday, January 8, 2015

France in Tears

Eugène Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People, 1830


We wish to express our sincerest sympathies to the survivors of the victims gunned down at Charlie Hebdo in Paris on January 7, 2015.  Our hearts go out to France as they suffer the shock and cope with the sadness of this event.  

I have chosen this painting by Delacroix in which Marianne, symbol of French liberty, leads the way to a higher ground.  You may notice that in the background the Cathedral of Notre Dame stands tall behind a cloud of artillery smoke.  Charlie Hebdo is in the 11th Arrondissement, not far from Notre Dame where demonstrations have taken place in the square outside the church.   

We know that Charlie Hebdo directed its satire toward all religious groups. I do not condone religious satire and have never been a fan of any publication that bases its satire on anti-religious content.

Nevertheless, I wish to note that terrorist tactics are a disturbing trend which deserve universal condemnation.  May Liberty lead the way out of this lethal mess before it destroys us all.

Dutch political cartoonist Ruben L. Oppenheimer tweeted this image.


Beth New York
aka Beth S. Gersh-Nesic, Ph.D.
Director
New York Arts Exchange

1 comment:

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