The female figures as an allegory of the nation:
Artists found a way out to represent a country in the form of a person. Then nations were portrayed as female figures.
The female figure was chosen to personify the nation did not stand for any particular woman in real life. 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.