Through Rivera’s Eyes: A Bloody History and a Bright Future

Stories are subjected to the will of the storyteller. Narrators have their ideologies, experiences, and personal truths that are incorporated into the configuration of their tales. Artist Diego Rivera told his view of history through his art when he "painted The History of Mexico, as a series of murals that span three large walls within a grand stairwell of the National Palace in Mexico City" (Flattley).

In The History of Mexico, Rivera commemorated significant events of Mexico's past (see fig. 1). Through a series of cluttered images, the composition encompasses history from the Spanish conquest to the beginning of the modern era. Efforts to create the mural were encouraged by the elevation of Indigenous culture in Mexico that derived from the desire to reject European culture and define a national identity (Flattley). Consequently, the Mexican mural movement began to "encourage education and cultural propaganda" (Becerra). Thus, government officials began to collaborate with artists, such as Rivera, to create state-sponsored murals throughout Mexico City and its government buildings. For Diego Rivera, who often displayed political statements in his art, the National Palace was the ideal location for his work to be seen by the masses (Flattley).

Fig. 1. Rivera, Diego. The History of Mexico. 1935, Palacio Nacional, Mexico City.

Flattley, Megan. "The History of Mexico: Diego Rivera's Murals at the National Palace." Khan Academy, 2020. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/latin-america-modernism/mexican/a/the-history-of-mexico-diego-riveras-murals-at-the-national-palace. Accessed 4 Nov. 2020.

Scattered across visual stages Rivera's vast creation encompasses The Aztec World (the right), From the Conquest to 1930 (the center), and Mexico Today and Tomorrow (the left). Each contains multiple historical figures and allusions to the creator's own life and belief systems (Folgarait 2). Along the National Palace's stairway, the mural embodies the Mexican people's struggles, the corruption of their rulers, and the nation's future. Spectators are transported into the past and travel through Mexican history in the eyes of Diego Rivera.

The North Wall features a representation of The Aztec World, Mesoamerica prior to the Spanish invasion and ultimate colonization (see fig. 2). With admiration, Rivera depicted an era of a great empire as he exemplified sophisticated Aztec culture through music, sculpture, leatherwork, trade, and agriculture. However, the scenes of gruesome wars, sacrifice, and slavery symbolize a critique of social and class conflicts (Flattley). Vibrant colors highlight utopian aspects of the ancient society, distracting from defiant scenes of displays of power from gods, kings, and warriors battling with subjugated masses. These images indicate classist behavior since Mexico's beginnings (Folgarait 4).

Fig. 2. Rivera, Diego. The History of Mexico. 1935, Palacio Nacional, Mexico City.

Upon the West Wall appears From the Conquest to 1930: a chaotic and overwhelming illustration of centuries in Mexican history (see fig. 3). Across the top, Rivera portrayed nineteenth-century invasions by the French and United States armies, respectively. As a viewer moves downward, dictatorship, the Mexican Revolution, and the Constitution of 1857 are represented. The lower section encapsulates the Spanish conquest and destruction of the Aztec empire. Religious temples were demolished and the old religions replaced with Catholicism. Missionaries converted unwilling servants. Cannons, guns, and disease fought arrows and spears (Flattely).

At the center of the mural stands a vibrant eagle on a nopal cactus, which is the figure on the Mexican flag. Since Tenochtitlan's founding-now Mexico City-the bird has symbolized a prophecy for Aztec settlement in the region (Folgarait 6). The eagle acts as a motif throughout the mural, which strengthens visual symmetry, hence the iconography and narrative importance as an "obvious nationalist reference" ("Art and the Mexican Revolution"). Strikingly, the eagle at the center of the mural grasps blue and red banners-a signal for war-instead of the serpent from the original tale (Folgarait 10). This artistic choice highlights the significance of wars and violence in shaping Mexican history.

Fig. 3. Rivera, Diego. The History of Mexico. 1935, Palacio Nacional, Mexico City.

To the left is Mexico Today and Tomorrow (see fig. 4). This section emulates the labor of peasant farmers and urban workers. Capitalistic high-society figures gather with clergy, exploiting Mexican resources such as oil and the people. Individuals with dark skin and sombreros are hunched over, hard at work, while men with lighter complections enjoy the wealth produced by the workers' labor. Near the top, Karl Marx is a symbol of the future Rivera envisioned for Mexico: a "path that leaves oppression and corruption behind" (Flattely).

Fig. 4. Rivera, Diego. The History of Mexico. 1935, Palacio Nacional, Mexico City.

Notably, Rivera was an active member of the Communist Party in Mexico. Hence the references to Karl Marx. During the creation of The History of Mexico, Rivera had to be conscious of the same difficulties that historians face, "Both the painter and the writer will select those elements and events worth including, and edit out of a vast index of possibilities" (Folgarait 7). Though the interjection of his ideas presents an unconventional perspective regarding Mexico's past and future, Rivera's mural symbolizes "the hopes and dreams of the people" (Becerra). Thus, it is fitting that Rivera inserted his own aspirations for his fellow countrymen. However, this controversy allows critics to speculate if the mural is a narrative or something else entirely (Folgarait 9).

The pictorial project began as an attempt by the wealthy bureaucracy to distract the people regarding their political practices. Ironically, the same individuals Rivera would denounce-capitalists encompassing Rockefeller-and-Ford-supported enterprises-became his employers (Belnap 3). Regardless, Rivera painted his vision. The muralist used class conflict and social commentary between the wealthy and the poor to challenge the conservative nature of post-revolutionary governments. These systems had rulers that masked corruption, income inequality, and the oppression of disadvantaged communities with nationalism. Thus, Rivera conveyed anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist themes by differentiating the upper and lower classes in The History of Mexico. Across the top, colorful elite figures in lavish surroundings basque in their riches. Conversely, peasants at the base, portrayed with dark colors, scramble to climb the impossible heights of the social ladder ("Art and the Mexican Revolution").

Though observers could interpret the mural as a simple depiction of history, Rivera injects his own opinions, life, and ideologies. Rather than emulating the expected nationalist propaganda in his mural, the artist unflinchingly depicts Mexico's bloody past while infusing his vision of Mexico's future. With sophisticated roots in the Aztec culture, conquest by the Spanish, and continuous oppression under colonization, the people of Mexico have suffered enough. Rivera poses a political future that strives for equal opportunities and truth, rather than blood and lies (Belnap 4).

Written by: Nicole Marinch

Works Cited

"Art and the Mexican Revolution." OpenLearn, 2020. 

www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/art-and-the-mexican-revolution/content-section-2. Accessed 6 Nov. 2020.

Becerra, Ana. "The History of Mexico - Diego Rivera." HistoricalMX, 2020. 

https://historicalmx.org/items/show/87. Accessed 6 Nov. 2020.

Belnap, Jeffrey. "Diego Rivera's Greater America Pan-American Patronage, Indigenism, and H.P." Cultural Critique, no. 63, 2006, pp. 61-98. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4489247. Accessed 6 Nov. 2020.

Flattley, Megan. "The History of Mexico: Diego Rivera's Murals at the National Palace." Khan Academy, 2020. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/latin-america-modernism/mexican/a/the-history-of-mexico-diego-riveras-murals-at-the-national-palace. Accessed 4 Nov. 2020.

Folgarait, Leonard. "Revolution as Ritual: Diego Rivera's National Palace Mural." Oxford Art Journal, vol. 14, no. 1, 1991, pp. 18-33. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1360275. Accessed 6 Nov. 2020.