Transcript A History of Mexico

The Conquest of
Mexico
Through Murals
Introduction for first picture
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“Tenochtitlan Marketplace”
Diego Rivera, 1933
• Mountains surround the Valley of Mexico.
• The Aztecs built Tenochtitlan on swampy ground at the
center of Lake Texcoco.
• A snake appears on this Aztec cloth and represents
Quetzalcoatl, the god of creation.
• The headdress this man wears and the staff he holds
identify him as a wealthy noble.
• Turkeys are readied for market and were a key
indigenous food found in the Americas.
• The importance of family is seen here as a mother
carries her baby in a rebozo, or large scarf.
• A laborer, or slave, is identified by his simple loin cloth
and head band.
• Petates, or mats, were woven out of reeds from the
nearby lakes and used for indoor and outdoor floor
coverings.
“Conquest”
Jose Clemente Orozco, 1939
• The bearded Spaniard is Hernan Cortes, conqueror of the
Aztec empire.
• Cortes’ heartless nature is symbolized by the empty
space in his chest where his heart should be.
• The fire raging in the background represents the
widespread destruction brought by Cortes and the
Spanish soldiers.
• Cortes and the angel above him are made of machinery,
symbolizing the new European technology used by
Cortes to conquer the Aztecs.
• Cortes is carrying an iron sword, which he rests on the
dismembered bodies of his Aztec victims. The Aztecs had
no metal to match the strength of the iron weapons
brought by the Europeans, and the cruelty of Cortes and
his soldiers are symbolized by this gruesome image.
• The winged angel above Cortes shows the partnership of
the Catholic Church in the conquest of Mexico. It may
also be “winged victory” telling Cortes to be kind to his
conquered subjects.
“Colonial Domination”
Diego Rivera, 1933
• Backbreaking labor in the gold mines was forced upon the Indians by the
fortune-hungry Spanish.
• The line of Indians yoked to a a plow shows how the Spaniards treated
the indigenous population as beasts of burden. The donkeys in the mural
are being treated with more dignity.
• The Spaniards’ greed is symbolized by the bag of gold held by the
Spaniard.
• Spaniards, dressed in armor and wearing European hats, whip yoked
Indians like animals. Rivera painted the Spaniards’ faces to look animallike and the Indians to appear more human, heroic, and perhaps even
angelic.
• The Spanish conquistadores use a branding iron to brand an Indian,
which symbolizes that some Spaniards treated Indians like livestock.
• The position of submission of Cuauhtemoc, the last emperor of the Aztec
empire, to the standing conquistador, or Spanish conquerer, shows the
defeat of the Aztecs.
• The Spanish flag, the Catholic cross, and the sword are three symbols of
the conquest that often represent the political, religious, and military
power the Spanish used to colonize the area.
“Fight for Liberty”
Jose Clemente Orozco, 1939
• Father Hidalgo is raising a clenched fist in rebellion
against Spanish colonial rule.
• The color red dominates the mural as death and
violence permeated this era of Mexican history.
• The masses of people portray the large number of
followers commanded by Hidalgo and the popularity
of the quest for independence among Indians and
mestizos.
• The priest’s collar worn by Hidalgo and the cross
painted in the mural emphasize the role of the
Church in this rebellion.
• Hidalgo holds a machete, the symbol of Mexican
agriculture, now on fire, as it is used for revolt by the
masses.
Enrique Peña
Nieto
President
of
Mexico