Lamentos que dirique (Laments That Direct)
n.d.
Medium
Relief print on paper
Dimensions
30.2 × 39.9 cm (11 15/16 × 15 3/4 in.)
Classification
relief etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
49435
Art Historical Context
Manuel Manilla's *Lamentos que dirique (Laments That Direct)* is a captivating example of 19th-century Mexican popular printmaking, rendered as a relief etching on paper measuring 30.2 × 39.9 cm. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints and Drawings department, this undated work exemplifies the artist's mastery of bold, accessible imagery designed for broad audiences, from urban markets to rural fiestas. Manilla (ca. 1830–1901), a prolific Mexican engraver based in Mexico City, bridged European techniques like etching with local traditions of satirical and moralistic broadsheets. His s...
About the Artist
Manuel Manilla
Manuel Manilla was a Mexican engraver and printmaker active in Mexico City during the late nineteenth century, where he became one of the most prolific popular artists of his era. Working primarily for the publishing house of Antonio Vanegas Arroyo, Manilla produced hundreds of woodcut and metal engravings that illustrated broadsheets, corridos, and cheap printed literature consumed by a wide urba...