ABSTRACT
On 8 August 1936 L’Illustration 1 published a photograph that rivalled the images of women-at-arms in its power to scandalise the reading public. The picture first appeared in cropped form in Paris-Soir 2 before being picked up later that August by a number of leading illustrated publications in Britain and France (Plate 18). Each in turn published it with captions designed to extract maximum propagandist impact. In it a little girl of about three, wearing a floral dress, apron and ribbon in her hair, smiled at the photographer from her vantage point in her grandmother’s arms, giving the Republican salute with her left hand. In her right she wielded a pistol. Close by, her mother stood dressed in the trousers, cap and scarf of militia uniform, condoning if not encouraging the child’s behaviour; interposed between the mother and grandmother were two young men, the foremost carrying a rifle and wearing ammunition boxes at his waist, smiling beyond the photographer. The whole scene was captured, according to L’Illustration’s caption, ‘En famille’ in the courtyard of the Montana Barracks, the arches of the surrounding buildings symmetrically framing the family group. ‘En famille' in the courtyard of the Montana Barracks. L'Illustration, 8 August 1936, p. 433. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203709382/c84a6b97-f597-43b9-bc21-261e4ec56cc9/content/fig18_B.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
