What a Relief!

Rude's The Departure of the Volunteers of 1792 (or "La Marseillaise")

 

The most famous of the four reliefs on the faces of the arch flanking the opening, this emotional composition depicts the French people rallying against enemies from abroad.

 

These citizens, both nude and in classical armor, are roused to patriotic fervor by the Roman goddess of war, Bellona, who has also been identified as a personification of Liberty.

 

This grouping so aroused spectators' patriotism that the work became known as "La Marseillaise," the French national anthem written in 1792 - the same year as the departure of the volunteers.

Who could resist the call to protect the new Republic from its monarchist enemies of the people?