no. 4, Von Moltke (General Helmuth von Moltke), unknown maker from France

Exhibition Label: "Machine in a Void: World War I & the Graphic Arts," Mar-2010, Steve Goddard When Notre Dame was restored in the mid-18th century, artists and photographers were invited to climb the scaffolding and capture images of the new and hopefully improved cathedral. The freestanding stone chimeras in particular caught the popular imagination, with countless images of the statues appearing in prints, drawings, and photographs of Notre Dame. By the early 20th century, the chimeras had come to stand not only for Notre Dame but also Parisian (and to some extent French) identity. Thousands of postcards of the chimera were produced, and during World War I, these immediately identifiable monsters were recast in a series of postcards, this time as German and Austrian heads of state and military leaders. The last three postcards in the series recast the German generals leading the offensive in northern France as cathedral chimeras. This postcard shows Helmuth von Moltke (1848-1926) as the “Horus” chimera, while the text identifies him as “the dastardly villain and repugnant individual whose barbarian hordes have put courageous Belgium to blood and fire.”