"Where in Mexico?" Quiz

One of the blogs which I regularly read is "The Mexile" (you will find the link on my "bloglist" to the side).  It is written by Gary Denness, a fellow from England who lived in Mexico for a number of years.  On his latest entry, he posted a photo of a mural painting in Mexico, and asked his readers if anyone could identify it.  We quickly were able to name the artist, but, as of yet, no one has been able to identify the location of the painting.

I have enjoyed trying to figure it out, so I thought I would be a blatant copycat, and post my own little quiz. 

I went through an old photo album, and pulled out a picture that I took back in 1973 when I was a college student studying at the University of the Americas in Cholula, Mexico.  (Back in those days I was using a little "Kodak Instamatic" camera.)

So here is the photo...

 

 

I'm not going to ask you to name the artist, since.he was not internationally famous. (But kudos to you if you can... and even more kudos if you can spell his Nahuatl name correctly!)

 

 

Can any of my well-traveled readers tell me where this colorful mural painting is located?  I will tell you that it is not in Mexico City, but it is within a couple hours drive from the capital.

 

¡Buena suerte!

 

UPDATE: I had one incorrect guess on the location of the mural, so I will give you a clue...

                   It's location is to the east of Mexico City.

 

UPDATE: Another reader incorrectly guessed Puebla.  Here's another clue...

                 Unlike Puebla, which was founded by the Spanish, this city has Pre-Hispanic

                 roots.

 

UPDATE: We have a winner!  A reader by the name of Joan correctly answered Tlaxcala. 

 

The city of Tlaxcala is the capital of the state of Tlaxcala, the smallest state in Mexico.  It is located about two hours to the east of Mexico City.  In Pre-Hispanic Mexico the Tlaxcaltecas were one of the few tribes of central Mexico not to be subjugated by the Aztecs.  When the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés arrived on the scene, the Tlaxcaltecas allied themselves with the Spanish against their enemies, the Aztecs.  Without their help, Cortés might not have succeeded in conquering Mexico.

 

The photo above is of small section of a series of murals in the government palace of Tlaxcala.  They were painted by a local artist by the name of Desiderio Hernández Xochitiotzin (1922-2007).  The paintings depict the history of Tlaxcala. (The portion above shows the chieftains of the tribe.)  Xochitiotzin began the murals in 1967, and upon his death he still was not finished.  The paintings are considered the last large scale work of the Mexican muralist movement.

 

Congratulations to Joan for answering correctly!!