Diego Rivera (18)


Source: WTL digital photograph in the main stairwell of the Palacio Nacional, Mexico City.
Comments: The full title of the entire mural project in the Palacio Nacional is: "History of Mexico from the Conquest to the Future" (1929-1930). Here we are looking at the west wall. At the lower center, just above the native Mexican in olive green outfit is Hernán Cortés on horseback with iron armor, lance, and plumed helmet. Just above Cortés is Cuauhtémoc, the last emperor of the Aztecs and the main defender of Tenochtitlán, with stylized Jaguar mask. And above Cuauhtémoc is an eagle with a serpent in its mouth, emblem of Mexico par excellence. Other images in this part of the west wall include: Inquisition agents to the left; Fr. Miguel Hidalgo in the upper right; Emiliano Zapata in the upper center (above the word "Tierra"); La Corregidora (Doña Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, of independence fame, to the left side of the upper middle arch); and Benito Juárez, to the left side of the upper right arch).
Humanities Questions: How would you describe the style and content of this mural?