Bayer pharmaceutical products have a way of getting under the skin. Sometimes literally, sometimes artfully. This delightful, if eerie, promotional piece for Italian Bayer products from the 1940s is a rather graphic depiction of how its famous pain relievers get to the heart, soul and veins of human suffering. In fact, it is a highly ambitious piece of product advertising. Although arguably too much information, it’s hard not to uncover every layer searching for the human (with emphasis on man) essence.