A woman dressed in mourning, shields a white pigeon from a marauding eagle...<br><br>Paris became a city encircled during the final stages of the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71), with its starving citizens enduring punishing winter temperatures. In the midst of such turmoil, Parisians, who were effectively cut off from the outside world, resorted to carrier pigeons as their only means of communication. As a result, this humble bird became a symbol of both hope and unification for Parisians and the French nation. Puvis de Chavannes captures this in <em>Le Pigeon</em> (1871), transforming the pigeon into an allegory of hope in the most desperate of circumstances.<br><br>There are three key elements to the painting. At the forefront lies the mournful figure of Saint Genevieve, the female embodiment of Paris itself, dressed in mourning: a widow grieving her besieged home and the city's dead. The second element is the central image of the carrier pigeon. Clasped tightly to Genevieve’s heart, the bird’s crisp whiteness contrasts sharply with the sombre, sepia tones of the cityscape and evokes a message of both purity and hope. Finally, the ominous bird of prey in the top left. Within the historical context, one may interpret this as the imperial eagle of Prussia. Genevieve’s stance is shield like as she protects the pigeon and the city below from danger.<br><br>Puvis de Chavannes's image captures the paradox of the siege itself. Although the city has been weakened by encirclement and aggression, she remains defiant, protective and ultimately full of hope.<br>