Broadside with 48 scenes depicting the misfortunes of a skinny man
1864
Medium
Wood engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 17 5/16 × 12 3/8 in. (44 × 31.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Max G. Wildnauer Fund, 1978
Accession Number
1978.643.54(7)
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the bustling print culture of 1864 Spain, José María Marés crafted this captivating *Broadside with 48 scenes depicting the misfortunes of a skinny man*, a wood engraving that unfolds like an early comic strip across a single sheet measuring 17 5/16 × 12 3/8 inches. Produced through the meticulous technique of wood engraving—where fine lines are incised into end-grain wood blocks for sharp, detailed reproductions—this affordable print was designed for wide dissemination, bringing visual storytelling to everyday audiences. The artwork humorously chronicles the endless woes of its lanky prot...
About the Artist
José María Marés · 1850–1870
José María Marés was a Spanish printer, publisher, and broadside producer active in Madrid from approximately 1850 to 1870. Operating first from addresses on the Calle de Relatores and later from the Plazuela de la Cebada under the imprint Imprenta de Marés y Compañía, he ran one of the more prolific popular-print establishments in mid-nineteenth-century Madrid. His presses produced illustrated br...