Rioting Skeletons

Title

Rioting Skeletons

Rights

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Public Domain.

Creator

Jose Guadalupe Posada (1851-1913)

Date

ca. 1900–1910

Description

A print that uses black lettering and yellow background paper. The title is bolded, and below this a group of skeletons is depicted. A massive skeleton in the background holds two missives in its hands. To the left and right of this skeleton are two more, both wielding their own pieces of paper. The foreground of this are three small skeletons, and from left to right; mouth wide open holding a flyer in its right hand gesturing towards a skeleton to its left, the next one faces behind it waving wildly to the skeletons behind it, and the right most one waves a paper at the skeleton to its right. All of these skeletons wear straw hats and have striped shirts and pants. The skeleton to the leftmost of the image is dressed in all black and is the only skeleton that has pupils. It sits watching the others at a table with a tablecloth that has a white cross on it. The skeleton to the right most of the image is dressed in a wide-brimmed hat and is gesturing while talking to a skeleton in the background. It sits at a table with a table cloth that has a black cross. Below this is four separate pieces of text, each with an image at the bottom of them. From left to right; A skull facing right with paint brushes and a color palate in its mouth, a skull with its jaw open wide facing left towards a glass filled with liquid, a skull facing forward with a detailed swirl underneath, and a skull facing right, jaw darkened, stick in and out through its temple, resting on a shadowed object. This is all encompassed by a solid frame all the way around a few centimeters from the edge of the sheet.

Format

Metal engraving and letterpress on yellow paper. 15 9/16 × 11 7/16 in. (39.5 × 29 cm)

Publisher

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Contributor

Akira Castillo

Identifier

46.46.313

Subject

Dia; De; Los; Muertos; Day; of; the; Dead; Jose; Guadalupe; Posada; Skeletons; Calaveras; Death; Riot; Crowd; Vendors; Poster; Flyer.

Source

Jpeg file. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Digital Collection. Accessed October 20th, 2023.

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/729657