Juste milieu
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Juste milieu is a term that has been used to describe centrist political philosophies that try to find a balance between extremes, and artistic forms that try to find a middle ground between the traditional and the modern. In the political sense it is most associated with the French July Monarchy (1830–1848), which ostensibly tried to strike a balance between autocracy and anarchy. The term has been used in both a positive and negative sense.
Le juste milieu by Charles Philipon, c. 1830, representing it as chaining the common man
Cartoon by Charles Philipon circa 1830 representing the philosophy as an empty suit of clothes.
Art and Liberty by Louis Gallait (1859). Walters Art Museum.
July Monarchy
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The July Monarchy, officially the Kingdom of France, was a liberal constitutional monarchy in France under Louis Philippe I, starting on 26 July 1830, with the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 23 February 1848, with the Revolution of 1848. It marks the end of the Bourbon Restoration (1814–1830). It began with the overthrow of the conservative government of Charles X, the last king of the main line House of Bourbon.
Louis-Philippe I, King of the French. The King is depicted at the entrance of the Gallerie des batailles which he had furnished in the Château de Versailles.
Liberty Leading the People (1830) by Eugène Delacroix commemorates the July Revolution of 1830. The child with two pistols to the right of Liberty (who holds the tricolor flag) would be Victor Hugo's inspiration for Gavroche in Les Misérables.[citation needed]
Silver five-franc coin featuring Louis Philippe
Donjon of the Château de Vincennes, where Charles X's ministers were detained