If we had seen the attack on former President Donald J. Trump only through television footage, it would have appeared shocking, but also chaotic and muddled. Secret Service agents jump in. Blood running from Mr. Trump’s ear to his lips testifies to how close the former president had come to death. In the lens of the still camera, the horror of the attack was translated into embodiments of authority, defiance and near martyrdom. The American flag billowing behind Mr. Trump’s bloodied face in some of the photos may superficially recall a Romantic tradition of bloodied national heroes, real or allegorical.

---

Persons: Donald J, Doug Mills, Trump’s, John Singleton Copley’s, Peirson ” Organizations: Trump, Service, The New York Times, Associated Press, Reuters, Secret Service Locations: France, Iwo Jima