Madame Anastasie
1874
This 1874 caricature by André Gill introduces us to 'Madame Anastasie,' the fearsome personification of French censorship. She’s depicted as a haggard old woman wielding enormous scissors, ready to snip out any controversial text from the newspaper pages visible in the background. The owl perched on her shoulder serves as a funny, ironic symbol of 'wisdom' keeping watch for forbidden ideas. It’s a brilliant visual metaphor for how the government trimmed down free speech and artistic expression during the Third Republic.
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