el elefante

Diego Rivera is maybe the most recognized Mexican muralist in the world of art.  His style is easily identified because of the colors he uses and the historical themes to the majority of his works.  I never tire of revisiting his masterpieces in so many of the government buildings here; with each viewing, I find a new face to study or notice details that had escaped me before.  The following pictures are from my fave piece, Sueño de una tarde dominical en la Alameda Central (Dream of a Sunday afternoon in the Central Alameda park). 

It's always a personal goal of mine to identify as many historical figures as I can.  Here, we see Hernan Cortes with a bloody hand on the shoulder of Bernardo del Castillo (a monk who greatly defended the indigenous peoples against the maliciousness of the Spaniards), both standing behind Felipe II of Spain.  Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz is off to the right, with her skeptical gaze scrutinizing the Spaniards.

It's no wonder that Rivera decided to portray Benito Juarez above all the fray.  As México's only indigenous president to date, Juarez stood for all that Rivera's generation wished México to achieve in prosperity, social awareness and equality.  Rivera never hesitated to criticize his society and thus, we see drunks in the lower right-hand corner, as well as a Mexican woman holding a blonde baby; maybe the babe is the product of an ill-fated affair, or maybe she is the nanny...

A self-portrait of Rivera, holding the hand of Lady Death (La Catrina) while his wife Frida Kahlo stands behind him, holding the yin yang that their marriage represented despite the turmoil.