''The History of Mexico'' is a

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

in the stairwell of the National Palace in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

Diego Rivera Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...

. Produced between 1929 and 1935, the mural depicts Mexico's history from ancient times to the present, with particular emphasis on the struggles of the common Mexican people fighting against the Spanish, the French, and the dictators that controlled the country at different points in its history.

History

Government-sponsored murals were commissioned after the end of the Mexican Revolution, mainly in Mexico City and surrounding areas between 1923 and 1939 to celebrate the overthrow of the Porfirio Diaz dictatorship. The government commissioned various artists, most famously José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Rivera himself to paint scenes about Mexican history.Rochfort, Desmond. Mexican Muralists. United States: Chronicle Boks LLC, 1998. Print Rivera began painting ''The History of Mexico'' in August 1929 in the stairwells of the National Palace. It took six years to complete.Folgarait, Leonard. Mural Painting and Social Revolution in Mexico, 1920–1940 ''Art of the New Order''. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 1998. print

Description

The mural consists of three distinct sections across three walls, thematically divided in chronological order: ancient Mexico, the colonial past to the present, and the future. The murals are huge, some as large as 70 meters by 9 meters.

North wall

This section of the mural depicts ancient

Aztec The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl ...

culture. An image of the sun, which was the center of the world in the

Aztec religion The Aztec religion is a monistic pantheism in which the Nahua concept of was construed as the supreme god , as well as a diverse pantheon of lesser gods and manifestations of nature. The popular religion tended to embrace the mythological and ...

is shown. Below the sun are a pyramid and an Aztec leader. The everyday lives of the Aztecs are also shown in detail: artisans weaving and making

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and ...

, mothers carrying babies, painting on scrolls, and calligraphy. Religious practices such as dances to the Sun God and the worship of snakes and jaguars are also shown. Rivera also included geographical features such as the volcanoes around the

Valley of Mexico The Valley of Mexico ( es, Valle de México) is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with present-day Mexico City and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico w ...

, as well corn and other crops.

West wall

The west wall forms the central part of the mural and summarizes the history of Mexico as a series of conflicts, rebellions, and revolution against oppression. Common Mexicans and Indians revolt against the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

, French, and various dictators, especially

Porfirio Diaz Porfirio is a given name in Spanish, derived from the Greek Porphyry (''porphyrios'' "purple-clad"). It can refer to: * Porfirio Salinas – Mexican-American artist * Porfirio Armando Betancourt – Honduran football player * Porfirio Barba-Jac ...

. The bottom of the wall shows Aztecs and other Indians fighting valiantly against conquistador Hernán Cortés and his army.Rivera, Luis-Martin Lozano & Juan Rafael Coronel. ''Diego Rivera The Complete Murals''. Italy: TASCHEN GmbH, 2008. Print In the middle, the Spaniards attempt to destroy the Aztec religion by obliterating sacred books and religious images during the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

. The left and right sides of the wall depict the colonial period, including the rape of a Native American woman by a Spaniard conquistador. This section also illustrates the Natives that supported the Spanish in their conquest. Adjacent are scenes of Natives working as slaves for the Spaniards, making weapons, constructing walls and buildings (including the National Palace itself), and providing food. This part also portrays the destruction and attempted assimilation of Native American culture by the Spaniards, including a depiction of Catholic conversion. The center of the wall is a large eagle with a serpent in its mouth, a symbol of both Aztec culture and modern Mexico. The upper corners of the wall depict the

Second French intervention in Mexico The Second French Intervention in Mexico ( es, Segunda intervención francesa en México), also known as the Second Franco-Mexican War (1861–1867), was an invasion of Mexico, launched in late 1862 by the Second French Empire, which hoped to ...

and the triumph of president

Benito Juarez Benito may refer to: Places * Benito, Kentucky, United States * Benito, Manitoba, Canada * Benito River, a river in Equatorial Guinea Other uses * Benito (name) * ''Benito'' (1993), an Italian film See also * '' Benito Cereno'', a novella by ...

over emperor Maximilian, whose execution is shown. The upper center shows images of the Mexican Revolution itself and the victorious peasant armies of revolution leaders

Emiliano Zapata Emiliano Zapata Salazar (; August 8, 1879 – April 10, 1919) was a Mexican revolutionary. He was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution of 1910–1920, the main leader of the people's revolution in the Mexican state of Morelos, and the ins ...

and

Pancho Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa (, Orozco rebelled in March 1912, both for Madero's continuing failure to enact land reform and because he felt insufficiently rewarded for his role in bringing the new president to power. At the request of Madero's c ...

, adorned with a red banner displaying the anarchist slogan " Tierra y Libertad" ("Land and Liberty").

South wall

This part of the mural depicts an imaginary future of Mexico. It shows factories, the Soviet flag (Rivera and

the government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

at the time were

socialists Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the eco ...

), workers,

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

the Communist Manifesto, and an image of Rivera's wife Frida Kahlo. Kahlo and her sister

Cristina Cristina is a female given name, and it is also a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Cristina (daughter of Edward the Exile), 11th-century English princess *Cristina (singer), Cristina Monet-Palaci (1956–2020), American s ...

are shown as socialist teachers bringing a glorious future to school children.

Interpretation

Art historian Leonard Folgarait notes that Rivera depicts the rich and foreigners who took over Mexico as evil, while the poor, peasants, Native American, farmers and workers are on the side of good and freedom. Given the context of post-Revolutionary Mexico, the mural could thus be seen as a declaration that the revolution had finally brought justice to the Mexican people who had long been oppressed by foreign powers and national dictators, while simultaneously emphasizing his vision of the culture of Mexico – bright colors, rich traditions, and old customs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Mexico Mural Murals in Mexico Paintings by Diego Rivera Arts in Mexico City 1930s murals History of Mexico City Birds in art Horses in art Cultural depictions of Frida Kahlo