A crowd gathers in anticipation beneath the scaffolding and stonework of Mexico City’s cathedral, their attention fixed on a set of massive bells resting in the atrium. The print’s bustling scene is alive with curiosity: men tip their hats, women gesture, and children crane their necks, all drawn to the spectacle of the new cathedral clock’s arrival. The artist, José Guadalupe Posada, uses crisp lines and careful composition to turn this moment into a communal event, the bells themselves looming as monumental presences at the center.

The framing border, festooned with decorative motifs, lends the image a sense of occasion, as if the print itself were a commemorative keepsake of the day. This work belongs to the world of early twentieth-century Mexico, a period when broadsides and illustrated prints were the popular media of the streets. Posada was famed for his ability to capture public life and local news, often blending image and verse as seen here—where the text below the illustration mimics the lively, satirical tone of the city’s pulsing public voice. Dated 1905, this print was made at a time when the modernization of Mexico’s capital was both spectacle and controversy, and the arrival of new cathedral bells was enough to draw a citywide crowd.

Preserved today in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this piece invites us to step into the square, to join the throng, and to listen for the first chime of a new era.