Saddled donkeys drinking water
19th century
Medium
Wood engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 6 7/8 × 5 11/16 in. (17.5 × 14.5 cm) Image: 3 15/16 × 3 1/8 in. (10 × 8 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
46.46.434
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the serene wood engraving *Saddled Donkeys Water*, an anonymous Mexican artist captures a quiet moment of rural life in 19th-century Mexico. Two pack animals, still bearing their saddles, pause at a water source, evoking the everyday toil and respite of working beasts central to the region's agrarian economy. Donkeys, vital for transport in rugged terrains from the haciendas to remote villages, symbolize endurance and humility in Mexican folk culture. Created as a wood engraving—a precise intaglio printmaking technique where intricate designs are carved into wood blocks—this small image (j...