The Tree of the City

You may remember that the previous week I had planned to visit special exhibits at three museums in downtown Mexico City.  As it turned out, I only visited the Museo Kaluz.  On Thursday I returned downtown to visit the other two museums.  I began at the Museum of Popular Arts, which is my favorite small museum in Mexico City.

After entering and paying my admission (a paltry 60 pesos... less than 3 U.S. dollars) I saw something new just beyond the courtyard that caught my attention.  It was an enormous Tree of Life.  

Trees of Life are clay sculptures that are the specialty of artisans in the town of Metepec, about 30 miles to the west of Mexico City.  This one was done in 2018 by an sculptor from Metepec by the name of Ernesto Soteno.  I did some research afterwards and found out that Soteno family has been creating Trees of Life for four generations, and they have become internationally famous for their work. 

This Tree of Life was entitled "History of the City", and it depicts people and events of Mexico City since its foundation under the Aztecs seven hundred years ago.

Near the base of the sculpture is Mexico's national emblem... the eagle and the serpent.  According to legend, the nomadic Aztecs had been told by their god to settle where they saw an eagle perched on a cactus.  When they came to the Valley of Mexico they saw the foretold sign and established their capital of Tenochtitlan, today's Mexico City.

  

To the side of the eagle is a scene depicting a human sacrifice.  An Aztec priest is cutting out the heart of the victim, and blood is spurting from his chest.

The Trees of Life originally depicted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, but now portray a wide variety of themes.  When I first noticed the naked man and woman, I thought they were Adam and Eve.

But then I realized that these figures were taken from a mural by the famous painter José Clemente Orozco.  The figures are the Spanish conqueror Hernán Cortés and his mistress, the native woman Malinche.  They represent the birth of the Mexican people... a mixture of Spanish and indigenous blood.

This figure is of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, a 17th century nun who was a brilliant scholar and poet and is considered one of the most important female writers of the Spanish-speaking world.

 

Among the historical figures that I recognized were (from right to left)... 

Maximilian von Habsburg, the man who briefly ruled Mexico as emperor when the French invaded Mexico,

Benito Juárez, the President that fought against the French intervention,

Porfirio Díaz, the dictatorial President who ruled Mexico for forty years until he was deposed by the Mexican Revolution.

The famous muralist, Diego Rivera

In 1968 Mexico City was the first Latin American city to host the Summer Olympics.  At first I did not notice the bleeding dove to the right.  I assume it is a reference to the massacre of student protestors which took place shortly before the opening of the games.

Now to continue on in the museum...