Source: WTL photograph© at the Special Exhibition of "Paint the Revolution: Mexican Modernism 1910 - 1950," at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, December 13, 2016.
Image: This photograph was taken in the Philadelphia Art Museum exhibition of a reproduction of a complex mural titled "Portrait of the Bourgeoisie" (1939-40) by David Alfaro Siqueiros, Luis Arenal, Antonio Pujol (1913-95), and Josep Renau (Spanish, 1907-82). Pyroxylin on cement and glass.
Comments: Renau's symbolic message is: "crowning everything, the sun of liberty shines above a set of elements symbolizing labor, solidarity, peace, and justice."
Humanities Questions: Since this fourth panel is placed above the lower three-part tryptych--corresponding to the three walls of a large staircase--the verticle, upward, thrust of the industrial and communication towers rising toward the intense illumination of a sun (of liberty) gives a dramatic conclusion to the struggles in the tryptych. (A) Describe and interpret this panel as if it stood alone and out of the context of the entire four-part work. (B) Then, returning to the photograph of the whole work (<= Page #29), briefly (if possible), evaluate the effect of this surging, gleaming conclusion. (C) State your reaction to the muralists' identification of this complex mural as stated in the work's title: "Portrait of the Bourgeoisie."