The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti by Ben Shahn

The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti painted in 1931/32, use existing press material and relates to an earlier judicial scandal. The two executed men lie in their coffins. Presiding over them are the three members of the commission, who declared that the original trial was fair and cleared the way for the execution.

The title of the cycle, The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti was intended to associate the persecution and deaths of the two workers with the Passion of Christ.

The 1920 a trial and 1927 execution of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti became the passion of many immigrants, liberal intellectuals and artist who were convicted that the two anarchists had been unfairly tried and convicted.

The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti is a timeless piece of protest art representing a universal outcry against injustice. The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti brings artistic accountability to the judicial villains who denied the defendants due process, while reminding lawyers of the fallibility of human justice.
The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti by Ben Shahn