Describe an Image in French

Method

Identifying the image

First of all, it is important to correctly identify the image and find the information related to the document itself before starting the description. To do this, you should answer the following questions (as far as possible):

• Who is the author of the image?
• What is the title of the image?
• What is the date of creation or publication?
• What is the type of image: photograph, drawing, artwork, etc.? And if possible, what technique was used (black and white, color, oil painting, watercolor, etc.)?
• If it is a work of art: where is it kept? If it is a photograph: where was it published (country, newspaper title, book title, etc.)?
• Has the image been modified or cropped? What is the original format?

These first pieces of information are important and play a major role in the analysis and interpretation. Indeed, the image may have a political dimension (date, publication in a newspaper), a symbolic dimension (artistic movement), or simply a documentary character. It is therefore useful—and even necessary—to correctly identify the nature of the image.

The different types of images

Here is a non-exhaustive list of the different kinds of images you may encounter in this type of exercise:

• A painting
• A drawing
• A caricature (a satirical drawing or press cartoon)
• A photograph
• An illustration
• A graph (pie chart, bar chart, etc.)
• A film scene
• A poster (an advertisement)
• A map
• A comic strip panel
• …

Describing the image

In a second step, you can focus on what you see and describe the image. But be careful: you should organize your text so you do not jump randomly from one idea to another.

• Start with the simplest question: Where does the scene take place? Or: what attracts attention at first glance?

• Then locate what you see in space: in the foreground, in the middle ground, in the background, in the center, at the top, at the bottom, on the left, on the right

• Then focus on what is represented in order to give a more detailed description:

  – Characters: Who are they? Are they known figures? What are they doing? Are they talking to each other?
  – Animals: What are they doing?
  – Objects: What do they look like?
  – Landscape: What type of landscape is it? What is the light like? What time of day might it be?
  – Symbol: What does it look like? What does it represent?
  – Historical scene: How are the characters positioned? Are there symbols?
  – A known event

Most often, you should begin with a general view and then make the description more and more precise by observing the details.
Be careful: do not express a personal opinion in this part. It should be written as objectively as possible.

This description helps you understand the subject and the main theme of the image: political, religious, historical, etc., and already gives you ideas for writing the third part.

Try to vary your vocabulary throughout the description. To introduce the different elements, you can use expressions such as:

• il s’agit deit is about
• la scène se passe à/enthe scene takes place in / at
• … est représenté/se trouve au premier plan… is represented / is located in the foreground
• on observe/on distingue/on peut voir/on remarquewe observe / we can see / we notice
• il y athere is / there are
• on peut identifier/on peut supposerwe can identify / we can suppose

Interpreting the image

Finally, you must provide a personal analysis of the image. Thanks to the detailed description, you now have all the keys you need. But be careful: this is not about repeating the description. In this part, you should express your opinion: What does the image make you think of? What feelings does it evoke? Are these feelings: Positive (curiosity, well-being, desire to escape, laughter)? Negative (anger, sadness, disgust)? Neutral?

Does the image try to make the viewer reflect on a particular theme? By what means? Try to understand how the image “works”, how it produces a certain thought or emotion.

Give your opinion: What is the author’s intention? What does the author want to show us? Find a main idea and explain your ideas clearly. Do not hesitate to use first-person expressions such as: je remarque queI notice that…, à mon avisin my opinion…, selon moiaccording to me…… You can also present hypotheses: je pense que l’auteur veut nous montrer queI think the author wants to show that……

From B2 level in French, learners usually try to use less personal expressions and present their analysis in a more neutral way (see the example).

In this section, remember to use all your knowledge: historical, economic, artistic, geographical context, the author’s biography, etc. These elements are often essential to analyzing an image. Very often, it is by placing the image in its context that we understand its function and the message it wants to convey.

Note

This rather subjective interpretation of an image is not appropriate if the document is a map or a graph. In that case, you must present the conclusions you reach after describing the image and talk about the topic or fact illustrated, for example: the favorite leisure activities of French people or migration flows in Europe. This type of exercise requires a great deal of precision.

Advice

f you want to practice describing works of art, you can visit the Louvre Museum website. There you will find a section called “Œuvres à la loupe” (“Artworks under the magnifying glass”) which presents fascinating analyses of famous works exhibited at the museum. Do not hesitate to write down words and expressions you like in a notebook, so you can later practice using them in your own texts.

Many museums offer descriptions of some of their artworks online, for example: the Musée d’Orsay, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux, the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille.

Example 1

La Liberté guidant le peuple

Source: Wikimedia Commons

For the French translation of Example 1, go to our French page.

Identification

This is an oil painting created by Eugène Delacroix in 1830, titled La Liberté guidant le peupleLiberty Leading the People. It is a large-format painting (2.60 × 3.25 m) preserved at the Louvre Museum.

Description

Thanks to the guiding lines of the painting and the effects of light, our eye is immediately drawn to the central figure: a woman of the people with a bare chest, holding a French flag in her right hand and a rifle in her left, while wearing a Phrygian cap on her head.

She seems to urge the people following her to move forward. All the objects she carries have a high symbolic value: this woman represents Liberty (as the title of the work indicates). She stands in the middle of a battle scene.

In the foreground, we can see three dead soldiers lying on the ground, mixed with the stones and beams of the barricade. A man emerges from the rubble, his entire body stretched toward the woman representing liberty, his eyes fixed on her.

To the left of Liberty, a street boy brandishes two pistols. To her right, two armed men (a worker and a man who looks more like a bourgeois) seem determined to follow her with courage and determination.

In the background, the crowd of insurgents is partly hidden by thick smoke—a sign of the many fights, gunshots, and explosions happening beyond the frame of the painting—which creates an apocalyptic atmosphere. On the right, we can distinguish the towers of Notre-Dame Cathedral and Parisian buildings.

The dominant colors are blue, white, and red, which stand out against shades of yellow, brown, and gray.

Interpretation

The scene takes place in Paris in 1830. Eugène Delacroix depicts a scene from the July Revolution of 1830, also called “The Three Glorious Days” (July 27, 28, and 29). During these three days of popular uprising against Charles X, the king—who wanted to impose severe restrictions on freedom of expression and the rights of the people—was forced to abdicate. A few days later, Louis-Philippe I established the July Monarchy.

This artwork, representing a recent historical event—a crowd of insurgents crossing a barricade—has a strong allegorical dimension. The painting is filled with symbols of the nation and liberty: the French flag, the Phrygian cap, the dominant colors blue, white, and red.

The woman with the bare chest is an allegorical figure of Liberty (she will even symbolize the French Republic in the following century). Although she represents more an idea than a real person, she mixes with the people, bringing together workers and bourgeois citizens and pushing them into battle. Violence is present everywhere in this combat scene. Wherever our gaze turns, we see weapons, dismembered bodies, and determined faces.

In La Liberté guidant le peuple, Eugène Delacroix sublimates the misery of the people by highlighting their heroism. Patriotism unites all the fighters, despite their social differences. This depiction of the Parisian people and the violence of the fighting during the July Revolution shocked many viewers at the time, and the work was initially harshly criticized by bourgeois society.

It should be noted that Eugène Delacroix is considered the leader of the French Romantic movement in painting. He breaks with the classical tradition and traditional historical painting. Instead of choosing a subject from ancient history or religion, he depicts a modern subject, representing its violence without hesitation. The Romantic fascination with revolutionary action and the patriotism of the era helped create a new artistic vision of the people and of history.

Conclusion

La Liberté guidant le peuple by Eugène Delacroix did not only impress people of his time. It has become an enduring symbol, representing even today the revolutionary ideal and the struggle for freedom. The painting has been used on several occasions—for example, on French 100-franc banknotes between 1978 and 1995. It is not unrealistic to think that this masterpiece, created by one of the greatest French painters, will continue to endure through the centuries while conveying its powerful political message.