Michael Cornelius Dorgan, Right Field, New York, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1887

This small card from 1887, created by Goodwin & Company for Old Judge Cigarettes, presents Michael Cornelius Dorgan of the New York baseball team. His arm raised vertically recalls the gesture of supplication, a reaching towards the divine. Consider the "Adlocutio" gesture in Roman art, where emperors address their troops, or even the raised hands of praying figures in early Christian art, all reaching for something beyond themselves. Dorgan's gesture, though seemingly mundane in its baseball context, taps into this deep well of human expression. The raised arm transforms; from sacred invocation to secular assertion. It's a powerful echo, demonstrating how even the simplest of gestures can resonate with the weight of history and the deep, subconscious drives that connect us across time. How thrilling it is to witness the endurance of images!