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The Murals
The Panamerican Mural:
Symbolizing friendship between the Americas, the Panamerican mural was in part inspired by the United States' Good Neighbor Policy, a 1930s initiative that reassured Latin American governments that the US would not intervene with their affairs. Notable historic leaders surround the friendly Americas, clockwise from upper right: Washington (US), Hidalgo (Mexico), Bolivar (Venezuela), Marti (Cuba), Lincoln (US), and Juarez (Mexico).
The Landing of Columbus:
In 1941, the Washington Post described this scene as one that "[completed] the designs and story of the old life of pagan ceremonies and modern changes" present in earlier panels, with Columbus planting flags of Castille and Aragon before the cross. While Columbus' historical reputation appears intact in the Post, we know that those of other conquistadores was beginning to suffer in Mexico. This particular portrait was originally meant for Hernan Cortes, the conquistador who brought much of Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile, but his reputation had fared poorly after the Mexican Revolution, whose ideals emphasized the achievement of the pre-Conquest native civilizations.
Pre-Columbian Mexico:
In contrast to Columbus' arrival, Cueva interprets the founding myth of Tenochtitian (now Mexico City), with peaceful idealism. According to legend, the Aztec people, then a nomadic tribe, were wandering throughout Mexico in search of a sign that would indicate the precise spot upon which they were to build their capital. A god had commanded them to find an eagle perched atop a prickly pear cactus (nopal in Spanish) growing on a rock submerged in a lake, which they found at Lake Texcoco, and began to settle what would later become the great city of Tenochtitlan. |