1345 Aztecs built Tenochtitlan at Lake Texcoco

Snake on cloth represents Quetzalcoatl- goddess of creation

The city was an important religious center filled with pyramids topped with temples

Slave laborer is identified by simple loin cloth

Mountains and lake provide natural defense of city

Importance of family as mother carries child in rebozo

What raw materials would be used to create mats?

Aztecs called themselves Mexica

Petates, or mats, were woven out of reed

Tenochtitlan Marketplace by Diego Rivera

Spanish ConquestHernan Cortes 1519Aztecs surrender 1521

Winged angel shows partnership of Church and Cortes

Cortes is carrying an iron sword – resting on dismembered bodies of Aztec victimAztecs had no metal to match iron’s strength

Fire in background represents widespread destruction of Spanish soldiers and smallpox.What is this?

Cortes is a machine… symbolic of European technology

Conquest by Jose Orozco

Small pox decimated Aztecs

Colonial Domination by Diego RiveraCross, Spanish flag and sword represent colonization

Cuauhtemoc, last Aztec emperor, bowing to conquistadors

Conquistadores use branding iron to brand Indian slave

Brutal labor of gold mines

Yoked to plow

Bag of goldSpaniards are dressed in armor and wearing European hats

Euro faces drawn as animals

Huge land grants given to Spanish - encomiendas

Rivera attempted to summarize 300 years

Total Indian population fell from 25 million to 1 million by 1700

Fight for Liberty by Jose Orozco Mexican

Independence 1810-1821

Father Hidalgo (killed 1811) against Spanish ruleColor red – death and violence

Masses of people – popularity of independence movement among Indians and mestizos.

Priest’s collar and cross – role of Church in rebellion

What do you think a fiery machete represent?

Machete is symbol of agriculture and fire is revolt.

Hidalgo and Father Morelos both executed during war by Mexican creoles (Spanish decedents)Creole Agustin Iturbide then lead independence from Spain, but without reforms of masses

Criollos – Spanish descent

Benito Juaraz 1831-1872 and the Fall of the Empire by Jose Orozco

Juarez - Zapotec Indian - first to bring legitimate reforms to MexicoMexican flag – patriotism of middleclass

Violent colors

Control of Church

Machetes in hands of peasants

1862 – Mexico conquered by France (Napoleon III). Archduke Maximilian of

Austria became Emperor of Mexico. Cinco de Mayo = Mexican victory, though French

eventually won war.

Juarez leadership came against European intrusion from Spain and France

1867- Juarez conquered Mexico City and executed Maximillian Then continued his reforms until his death in 1872

1855 – overthrew dictator Santa Anna, began reforms

Repression by Diego RiveraThe peasants are

being held at gunpoint by government forces

The sickle is held by a bent over worker. During this time period, peasants lost their lands and were forced to work on large haciendas for little or no wages.

Rurales, or government forces, are seated on horseback and are wearing carbines. The man wearing the sombrero and holding the whip is overseeing the workers. These two images symbolize the forms of coercion used to make the peasants work on the haciendas.

The Trench by Jose OrozcoMexican RevolutionBy 1910,

dissatisfaction of Diaz regime lead to open revolt.“Viva la Revolucion”

Three soldiers mirroring the Christian Trinity, add religious element to the movement

The carbines and rifle reinforce the atmosphere of revolution

Red – violent and bloody nature of 10-year long revolution

Sharp angles of bodies inject drama

Land Distribution by Diego Rivera

The faces of the rich men show their anger at their land being redistributed.

The government bureaucrat is indicating with his outstretched arm the land that is to be given to the campesinos. He points to a blueprint showing land parcels.The legal books indicate the government’s commitment to the redistribution of hacienda land, a commitment made into law by the Constitution of 1917.

The campesinos are holding their rifles in nonthreatening positions, signifying an end to the violence of the revolutionThe

campesinos have taken off their sombreros, a sign of the solemn nature of the occasion

Murals are also a form of personal

expression as well as historical.

Mexican American murals are a very

popular form of art today.

Your assignment:•Create a mural of your own

life.•Include significant events,

images and pictures that will make it symbolic of your own personal culture and history.

•Make it colorful and meaningful.