Mural Paintings at Castillo de Chapultepec Now on the Web

MEXICO CITY.- From the second half of 2010, the National Museum of History “Castillo de Chapultepec” will include in its web page an interactive guide to the most acknowledged murals that represent the Independence and Revolution struggles, painted in the precinct.

The paintings are “Fusion de dos Culturas” (Merger of two Cultures) by Jorge Gonzalez Camarena; “Retablo de la Independencia” (Independence Tableau) by Juan O’ Gorman; “Revolucion contra la Dictadura Porfiriana” (Revolution against Porfirian Dictatorship) by David Alfaro Siqueiros, and “Alegoria de la Revolucion Mexicana” (Allegory of Mexican Revolution) by Eduardo Solares Gutierrez.

The Independence altarpiece by Juan O'Gorman

The guide is been prepared by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) as part of the Bicentennial of the Independence and Centennial of the Revolution celebrations. It will be integrated by images and a description of each mural painting, announced Salvador Rueda, director of the National Museum of History (MNH).

The material will be available for download at the museum’s web page, www.mnh.inah.gob.mx, providing the historical context of each artwork. Most important characters represented at the murals such as Jose Maria Morelos, Miguel Hidalgo, Emiliano Zapata and Porfirio Diaz are described, as well as landscapes and possible artistic intensions of the authors.

“The objective of the interactive guide is to make available artistic and historical jewels safeguarded at the Castle of Chapultepec to people who cannot come to the museum”.

The multimedia tool will be displayed at the museum through gigantic screens to provide historical information to visitors, mentioned the historian.

Several of the 20 halls of the National Museum of History (MNH), distributed over 2 stories, lodge the mural paintings related to diverse national history themes captured by artists Eduardo Solares, Juan O’ Gorman, David Alfaro Siqueiros y Jorge Gonzalez Camarena.

Mexican Muralism emerged after the Revolution to document and to narrate Mexican people history, by depicting quotidian scenes, historical events, politic and social struggles, religious and cultural matters, as well as to portrait heroes and anonymous characters.

This artistic movement was important because it helped to configure the Nation-State and visually instructed people who could not read, concluded Salvador Rueda.