Final answer:
Panel no. 49 in Jacob Lawrence's 'The Migration of the Negro' is part of a series that visualizes the African American journey during the Great Migration using a Cubist style and a consistent color palette to narrate the story.
Step-by-step explanation:
The function of Panel no. 49 in Jacob Lawrence's painting series 'The Migration of the Negro' is to showcase the experiences of African Americans during the Great Migration. This particular panel, like others in the series, is a visual narrative of the African American journey from the South to the North in search of better opportunities and freedom from Southern injustices. Lawrence's use of casein tempera on hardboard, employing a color palette of oranges, yellows, blue-greens, and gray-browns, and his style that reflects synthetic Cubism with geometric forms and abstracted figures, are all significant in depicting the emotional and physical journey of the migrants.