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- Artists in the 18th and 19th centuries found a way to represent a face of the nation just like it was done for a ruler or a person. They did this by personifying the nations or representing nations as if it were a person .
- Nations were portrayed as female figures and these figures were not at all related to women in real life , rather they sought to give the abstract idea of a nation in concrete form .
- Just like the attribute of Liberty is represented by a red cap or a broken chain and the attribute of Justice is represented by a blindfolded woman carrying weights , similarly nations were also represented by such allegories.
-
France
was
represented
by one such
allegory
known as
“Marianne”.
Her
statues
were
erected
in
public squares
to
remind
the
public
of the national
symbol of unity and her images were marked on coins and stamps . - Similarly, Germania became an allegory for the nation of Germany .
NOTE: Allegory means when an abstract idea is represented through a person or a thing.
