- Created by
- Driskell, David C., American, 1931 - 2020
- Subject of
- Till, Emmett, American, 1941 - 1955
- Date
- 1956
- Medium
- mixed media on canvas
- Dimensions
- H x W (unframed): 46 × 36 in. (116.8 × 91.4 cm)
- Caption
- If the men who killed Emmett Till had known his body would free a people, they would have let him live.
- —Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr.
- In 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till traveled from Chicago to visit family in Money, Mississippi. He was murdered by two men who accused him of flirting with a white woman. His death shocked the nation and spurred the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement.
- David Driskell was deeply affected by Till’s death and felt compelled to create a memorial to the young teenager. Conceived as a visual allegory, Driskell’s modern-day pietà alludes to similarities between Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, Till’s murder and funeral, and the religious foundation and coming events of the struggle for African American rights.
- Description
- An oil painting in which the artist presents the bruised and battered body of Emmett Till as a Christ-like figure with his arms outstretched in the form of a crucifixion. The hands and arms of a figure behind him are visible holding the body.
- Classification
- Visual Arts
- Movement
- Civil Rights Movement
- Type
- oil paintings
- Topic
- Art
- Christianity
- Civil rights
- Religion
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Object number
- 2009.7
- Restrictions & Rights
- © The Estate of David C. Driskell
- Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.