The Paris Commune—Allegory

A woman stands on cobblestones among fallen comrades, defiantly holding a flag which billows behind her as whiffs of smoke blur the outlines of her lower body. It has been suggested this could be a heroic portraiture of Louise Michel.

In his illustrations for Le chambard socialiste, Steinlen used the alias Petit Pierre, thus playing on his name, which, in German, means "little stone."