El humilde armadillo (in-text plate, page 23) from the illustrated book Incidentes melódicos del mundo irracional (Melodic Incidents of the Irrational World)
Leopoldo Méndez
Mexican, 1902–1969
1944
A wood-engraved illustration of an armadillo made to accompany a humorous, folkloric tale, with Méndez aiming to turn a native creature into a vividly patterned, narrative character through print.
You'd first notice the dense, carved lines and decorative foliage that cradle a heavily patterned armadillo—its segmented shell and textured body rendered like a rhythmic, ornamental design in contrasting inks.
Created during Méndez’s mid-century print revival, the plate fuses popular folk imagery with modern wood-engraving technique, showing how illustrated books could carry socially engaged, democratically accessible graphic art.
Medium
Wood engraving from an illustrated book with forty-one wood engravings and one woodcut
Dimensions
irreg. composition 2 3/4 x 5 5/16" (7 x 13.5 cm); page: 10 13/16 × 8 1/4" (27.5 × 21 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Purchase
Accession
595.1949.15
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
![The Armadillo (Armadillo), plate 3, from the portfolio Méndez: 25 Prints [illustrations for the book "Incidentes Melódicos del Mundo Irracional" by Juan de la Cabada]](https://www.moma.org/media/W1siZiIsIjE2Nzc2OCJdLFsicCIsImNvbnZlcnQiLCItcmVzaXplIDEwMjR4MTAyNFx1MDAzZSJdXQ.jpg?sha=9c6dcbfc5df606c9)
![The Armadillo Completes the Task (El Armadillo cumple con su tarea), plate 5, from the portfolio Méndez: 25 Prints [illustrations for the book "Incidentes Melódicos del Mundo Irracional" by Juan de la Cabada]](https://www.moma.org/media/W1siZiIsIjE2Nzc3MCJdLFsicCIsImNvbnZlcnQiLCItcmVzaXplIDEwMjR4MTAyNFx1MDAzZSJdXQ.jpg?sha=2158fcbfd6faa0cc)
