Edouard Manet’s Polichinelle is a political satire. The lithograph depicts president of the Third Republic Patrice de MacMahon as Polichinelle, a comedic character associated with deceit and duplicity. The baton refers to MacMahon’s brutal suppression of the Paris Commune of 1871, a short-lived revolutionary government with radical republican values. Manet remained in Paris during this period and witnessed the seizure of power and MacMahon’s violent response. In 1874, Manet created this color lithograph, which he intended to distribute in the Republican journal Les temps. The work was censored and publication halted after only 25 impressions were pulled. Manet’s friend, poet and writer Théodore de Banville, provided the lines beneath the image, which read: "Ferocious and pink, with fire in his eyes, / Insolent, drunk, divine, that’s him, Polichinelle!" (Féroce & rose avec du feu sa prunelle, / Effronté, saoul, divin, c’est lui Polichinelle!)