Diego Rivera (22)


Source: WTL photograph© (1999).
Mural: "Battle of Aztecs and Spaniards" (1930), in the Museo Cuauhnáhuac, Palacio de Cortés, in Cuernavaca, Mexico.
Comments: As stated before, Diego Rivera's murals in the Palacio de Cortés were commissioned by the U.S. Ambassador to México, Dwight W. Morrow, who was one of the most talented, liked, and successful ambassadors the U.S. has ever sent to Mexico. To paint these murals, Rivera interrupted his work on the Palacio Nacional in Mexico City. The murals cover these two walls and the wall behind the photographer (see: <= Cuernavaca #8). The subject is the history of Cuernavaca and the State of Morelos from pre-Conquest times through the leadership of Emiliano Zapata in 1911. On the far left is a mural depicting José Morelos, one of the great leaders of Mexico's War of Independence (1810-1821). On the far right is the battle between Cortés' forces and the Aztecs in Cuernavaca. Then the middle panel on the left is "Crossing the Barranca", a Spanish engineering feat, which enabled the Spanish victory. On the left is "The Taking of Cuernavaca". Other panels behind the photographer include the full defeat of the Aztecs, Bartolomé de las Casas, Morelos, and Zapata.
For a complete tour of this mural in series format, see: => Rivera in Cuernavaca.
Humanities Question: How do you evaluate the American involvement in creating these murals in the palace-fortress built by and living in by Cortés?