the draped tunics wornbythe Roman Libertas mark her as profoundlydifferent
from actual working-classwomen, renderingher–the femalefigure–intoacon-
ventional symbol.
Inspired by thegendered iconographyofthe July Revolution,afullyhar-
nessed and armed Germania was promoted since the Revolutions of 1848 as a
personification of national unity.But unlikethe French originalwith thePhry-
gian capwho, in the famous rendition by Delacroix, is animated byapassion
for liberty that exceeds traditionalnotions of femalebeauty and propriety,Ger-
mania exudesawell-fortified sense of calm and stability.Similarly, her socialist
sister Libertasremains strangelyconstrained in her emotions. Her modesty not
onlyattests to socialists’traditionalviews ongender roles but alsoraises ques-
tions about the party’scommitment to the woman’squestion. Givenher close as-
sociation with Social Democracy,Libertasrepeatedlyinspired mocking treat-
ments in the mainstream press that,among other things, resulted in her
transformation into anuglyshrew.For instance,acaricature with the title“Has-
selmann’sRevelations”from the satirical mainstream journalUlk43 (1878)por-
traysher asadisheveled, bare-breasted woman who emergesfrom behindathe-
ater curtain labeled“Fraternity and OtherIdeals,”held open by an SPD member
of the Reichstag namedWilhelm Hasselmann. Leading agroup of armed revolu-
tionaries, the frightful apparition clutchesadaggerinher right hand andaban-
ner in the left–with the“true”reasons for the mass appeal of socialism“re-
vealed” in the banner’smottos “Envy”and“Covetousness”(see figures5.7
and5.8). The gendering of socialist allegory becomes even more explicit in
mixed allegoricalrepresentations that involvethe proletariat and the party.Pub-
lished in the 1899Mai-Festzeitung,“The Union of Art and Labor”by the popular
illustrator Ephraim Moses Lilien (18 74 – 1925)stagesahighlysymbolic scene
throughaliteral reframing of ArnoldBöcklin’sLibertas/Helvetia(1891).
The Proletarian Prometheus and SocialistAllegory 115