A man leaning over the side of a bed vomiting, from a broadside entitled 'Death of Aurelio Caballero due to yellow fever in Veracruz'
Medium
Type-metal engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 5 3/16 × 7 3/16 in. (13.2 × 18.3 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Jean Charlot, 1930
Accession Number
30.82.93
Tags
Art Historical Context
In 1892, during a devastating yellow fever outbreak in Veracruz, Mexico, celebrated printmaker José Guadalupe Posada this stark image as part of a broadside the death of Aurelio. The scene depicts a man in agony, leaning over the of a bed to vomit capturing the raw physical torment of the disease. Posada, a master of Mexican popular graphics during the Porfiriato, produced such corridos ilustrados—inexpensive news sheets—to document real tragedies, blending journalism with macabre drama for the working class. Rendered in type-metal engraving, a relief printing technique ideal for quick, affor...
About the Artist
José Guadalupe Posada · 1852–1913
José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913) was a Mexican printmaker and engraver who revolutionized popular art and created some of the most iconic images in Mexican culture. Working primarily with publisher Antonio Vanegas Arroyo, he produced over 20,000 images during his career—inexpensive broadsheets sold for a penny on colored paper that made his art accessible to even the poorest workers. He transform...