The Museo Cabeza de Juárez (English: Head of Juárez Museum) is a museum and monument in

Iztapalapa Iztapalapa () is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City, located on the east side of the entity. The borough is named after and centered on the formerly independent municipality of Iztapalapa, which is officially called Iztapalapa ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. The top of the structure features a colossal head of

Benito Juárez Benito Pablo Juárez García (; 21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872) was a Liberalism in Mexico, Mexican liberal politician and lawyer who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in office in 1872. As a Zapotec peoples, Zapo ...

, the 26th

president of Mexico The president of Mexico ( es, link=no, Presidente de México), officially the president of the United Mexican States ( es, link=no, Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the Co ...

Luis Echeverría Luis Echeverría Álvarez (; 17 January 1922 – 8 July 2022) was a Mexican lawyer, academic, and politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), who served as the 57th president of Mexico from 1970 to 1976. Previously, ...

, the 57th president of the country, ordered its erection in 1972 – a century after Juárez's death – and it was inaugurated on 21 March 1976, the 170th anniversary of Juárez's birth. The museum's collection features the chronology of Juárez's life, and its

esplanade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cle ...

is open for cultural events. Artists

Luis Arenal Bastar Luis Arenal Bastar (born Teapa, 1908 or 1909 – died Mexico City, May 7, 1985) was a Mexican painter, engraver and sculptor. He was a founding member of the Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios, the Taller de Gráfica Popular and the ...

and

David Alfaro Siqueiros David Alfaro Siqueiros (born José de Jesús Alfaro Siqueiros; December 29, 1896 – January 6, 1974) was a Mexican social realist painter, best known for his large public murals using the latest in equipment, materials and technique. Along with ...

were involved in its construction and artistic style.

History and construction

ordered the erection of a monument to

in 1972. The selected space was a roundabout along Guelatao Avenue in

. Architects Lorenzo Carrasco Ortiz and Miguel Ramírez Bautista designed the civil work. Meanwhile,

was hired to paint murals on the walls, but his health began to deteriorate and he died in 1974.

, Siqueiros's brother-in-law, replaced him and additionally sculpted the colossal head with help of Carrasco Ortiz. After its inauguration, the sculpture ceased to receive federal support and fell into decline. It was not until 2000 that it received its first major restoration by the government of the city, where the plinth was transformed into a museum. Following the earthquake of 19 September 2017, the museum received minor damage and the subsequent maintenance cost two million

pesos The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the same sign, "$", as many currencies named "dollar" ...

. During the process, signs of corrosion and various bullet impacts were found. The plinth-transformed-into-museum is high, wide and deep. The external walls are painted with abstract murals. They were inspired by the murals ''Estampas de Guerrero'' by Arenal and the ''Mural Cuauhtémoc contra el mito'' by Siqueiros. The head sculpture weighs and is high. Iron sheets were used to sculpt the concrete. The head originally would have had a neck and shoulders, with channels to protect it from the accumulation of water. Inside the museum, there is a collection with the chronology of Juárez's life, as well as some works by Siqueiros,

Diego Rivera Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...

José Clemente Orozco José Clemente Orozco (November 23, 1883 – September 7, 1949) was a Mexican caricaturist and painter, who specialized in political murals that established the Mexican Mural Renaissance together with murals by Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Sique ...

and

Rufino Tamayo Rufino del Carmen Arellanes Tamayo (August 25, 1899 – June 24, 1991) was a Mexican painter of Zapotec heritage, born in Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico.Sullivan, 170-171Ades, 357 Tamayo was active in the mid-20th century in Mexico and New York, ...

. Its esplanade is open for cultural events and the roundabout has a size of .

Reception

Art critic said that the sculpture is "an exaltation to the patriotic sense of the liberals and their importance in the construction of modern Mexico". Writer

Carlos Monsiváis Carlos Monsiváis Aceves (May 4, 1938 – June 19, 2010) was a Mexican philosopher, writer, critic, political activist, and journalist. He also wrote political opinion columns in leading newspapers within the country's progressive sectors. ...

considered it "guillotined par excellence, horrible and terrible". The head commonly appears on lists of the country's ugliest sculptures. In a 2017 poll, 27.76 percent of voters rated it the ugliest in the city. The head inspired the pictogram of the Guelatao metro station of the

Mexico City Metro The Mexico City Metro ( es, Metro de la Ciudad de México) is a rapid transit system that serves the metropolitan area of Mexico City, including some municipalities in Mexico State. Operated by the Sistema de Transporte Colectivo (STC), it is ...

, which is the closest to the museum. Blogger Tamara De Anda named it one of the system's worst pictograms.

Notes

References

External links

* * 1976 establishments in Mexico Abstract art Busts in Mexico Colossal statues Concrete sculptures in Mexico Cultural depictions of Benito Juárez Monuments and memorials in Mexico City Murals in Mexico Museums in Mexico City Sculptures of men in Mexico City {{DEFAULTSORT:Museo Cabeza de Juárez