Vatican Museums

In 1960 Alfaro Siqueiros was detained in the Mexico City prison for his opposition to the Mexican government, charged with “incitement to social discord”. During his imprisonment in a cell of just nine square metres, which lasted until 1964, the artist produced a good three hundred preparatory works for the imposing mural The march of humanity on earth and toward the cosmos, which he executed between 1964 and 1970 for the Cultural Polyforum of Mexico City.
Cristo mutilado, a rare example of an easel work by the famous muralist, is a sketch for the “fondo escenografico” of the small theatre in the prison where he was held. Siqueiros, who returned to the same subject several times, attributing various values to the figure of Christ, here chooses to portray Christ as a victim, an image of great symbolic power for the place where it was destined to be displayed.