Question

how had the female become an allegory to the Nations during 19th century in European analyse

Answer 1

ationalism required personalizing a nation. Countries were often portrayed as female to give shape to an abstract idea. Often cultural icons such as trees or aspirational values such as liberty and justice needed icons and preferably female figures to get the message across. The female figure became an allegory of the nation.

E.g. under French Revolution, Justice is generally a blindfolded woman carrying a pair of weighing scales

Answer 2

The female figures as an allegory of the nation:

1. Artists found a way out to represent a country in the form of a person.

2. Then nations were portrayed as female figures.

3. The female figure was chosen to personify the nation did not stand for any particular woman in real life.

4. It gave the abstract idea of the nation a concrete form.

Thus, the female figure became an allegory of the nation.

During the French Revolution artists used the formal allegory to portray idea such as Liberty, Justice and the Republic.