The print opening the April 1871 issue of L’Actualité, produced by the lithographer Paul Barousse, shows a scene from the civil war which pitted the Third Republic regime, governing from Versailles, against the Communards of Paris, associated with the colour red – the red flag flying since the previous month from the Hôtel de ville (top left).

The Communards are depicted by one male figure and one female, defending the walls of the city. The Marianne-style figure, with a red Phrygian cap echoing the revolution of 1789, points towards the Versailles forces, with the caption below: “There they are!!!..” To defend the “rights of the people” inscribed on her sword, its tip has been dipped in the red of blood. Her male companion bears another red flag which reads: “1871: The Commune or Death”. By the end of the following month, the Communards would be defeated in the Bloody Week.  

Paris: Madre Éditeur, 20 Rue du Croissant; Lith. Barousse, April 1871.

CUL, KF.3.10