Broadsheet relating to the execution of a murderer named Dionisio Silverio, a firing squad in the upper section
Medium
Type-metal engraving and letterpress on tan paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 11 15/16 × 7 15/16 in. (30.3 × 20.2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1946
Accession Number
46.46.113
Tags
Art Historical Context
This striking broadsheet from around 1903 captures a grim moment in Mexican history: the execution by firing squad of Dionisio Silverio, a convicted murderer. Created by the renowned printmaker José Guadalupe Pos in collaboration with publisher Antonio Vanegas Arroyo, it features a dramatic upper-section illustration of the squad amid text narrating the event. Pos, a master of Mexico's popular print tradition, used his signature bold, folk-inspired style—crisp lines and high-contrast imagery—to make sensational news accessible to the masses. Printed via type-metal engraving and letterpress on...
About the Artist
José Guadalupe Posada|Antonio Vanegas Arroyo · 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...