The Falling Soldier

The Falling Soldier (full title: Loyalist Militiaman at the Moment of Death, Cerro Muriano, September 5, 1936) is a black-and-white photograph by Robert Capa, claimed to have been taken on Saturday, September 5, 1936. It was said to depict the death of a Republican soldier from the Libertarian Youth (FIJL) during the Battle of Cerro Muriano of the Spanish Civil War. The soldier in the photograph was later claimed to be the anarchist militiaman Federico Borrell García. The photo appears to capture a soldier at the very moment of his death. He is shown collapsing backward after being fatally shot in the head, with his rifle slipping out of his right hand. The soldier is dressed in civilian clothing, but is wearing a leather cartridge belt. Following its publication, the photograph was acclaimed as one of the greatest ever taken, but since the 1970s, there have been significant doubts about its authenticity due to its location, the identity of its subject, and the discovery of staged photographs taken at the same time and place.