Proletarian Hand

Title: Proletarian Hand
Description: Méndez made most of his prints to call attention to social and political causes. Here he has surrounded a worker's hand with the last names of political martyrs in the United States and Mexico who were honored as heroes in left-wing circles all over the world. At first glance, the hand appears be an X-ray image, but closer examination reveals that the finger bones are hanged prisoners and the wrist bones are portraits of some of the persons named in the background.
Creator: Méndez, Leopoldo
Date: 1932
Format: Block: 10 5/16 x 6 1/8 inches (26.2 x 15.6 cm)
Sheet: 13 x 9 1/8 inches (33 x 23.2 cm)
Medium: Wood engraving (proof of incomplete flyer); Wood-engraving
Identifier: 2003-228-1
Subject: Prints; Martyrs; Prisoners of war
Source: Philadelphia Museum of Art