The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti, by Ben Shahn, 1931–1932
Ben Shahn (1898–1969) came to the United States from Lithuania as a child and achieved fame as a social realist painter and photographer. Shahn used his art to advance his belief in social justice. In this painting, Sacco and Vanzetti lie dead and pale, hovered over by three distinguished Massachusetts citizens. These grim-faced men — holding lilies, a symbol of death — are Harvard University president A. Lawrence Lowell and the two other members of a commission appointed by the governor in 1927 to review the case. The commission concluded that the men were guilty, a finding that led to their execution. Judge Webster Thayer, who presided at the original trial in 1921, stands in the window in the background. The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti by Ben Shahn (1931–1932) Art © Estate of Ben Shahn/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Photo © Geoffrey Clements.