Pateon De Menudencias

578

Attributed to Manuel Manilla (see Rothenstein, Posada: Messenger of Mortality, p.172) a Mexican illustrator and engraver who was a follower of Posada's. At center is a nightmarish image of the much-disliked president Victoriano Huerta, who came to power in a coup during the Mexican Revolution. The calavera depicts Huerta "metamorphosed into a giant spider, often spoken of as a cut by Posada. This violently anti-Huerta sheet could not have been published earlier than July 15, 1914, the date of Huerta's resignation. Soon after ascending to power the Carranza party publicized a search that proved successful for the hastily dug graves of Huerta's political rivals who had disappeared while he was president. A photograph circulated showing President Madero's shirt and coat, with bullet holes proving that he had been shot from the back. This could be a possible inspiration for the spider image"

https://www.lornebair.com/pages/books/57745/mexico-artist-manuel-manilla-follower-of-jose-guadalupe-posada/broadside-panteon-de-menudencias-un-vestiglo-periodico-dependiente-del-pueblo-tomo-i-num-8