''Sueño de una tarde dominical en la Alameda Central'' or ''Dream of a Sunday Afternoon at Alameda Central Park'' is a 15.6 meter wide

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

created by

Diego Rivera Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957) was a Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the Mexican muralism, mural movement in Mexican art, Mexican and international art. Between 1922 and 1953, Rivera painted mural ...

. It was painted between the years 1946 and 1947, and is the principal work of the Museo Mural Diego Rivera adjacent to the Alameda in the historic center of

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

History

The mural was originally created at the request of architect Carlos Obregón Santacilia for the Versailles Restaurant of the Hotel Del Prado, which was located across the street. When the hotel was rendered uninhabitable in the

1985 Mexico City earthquake The 1985 Mexico City earthquake struck in the early morning of 19 September at 07:17:50 (CST) with a Moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 8.0 and a maximal Modified Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of IX (''Violent''). The ev ...

and condemned for demolition, the mural was restored and moved to the museum.

Description

The mural depicts famous people and events in the

history of Mexico The history of Mexico spans over three millennia, with the earliest evidence of hunter-gatherer settlement 13,000 years ago. Central and southern Mexico, known as Mesoamerica, saw the rise of complex civilizations that developed glyphic writing ...

, passing through the Alameda Central park in Mexico City. Some notable figures include

Frida Kahlo Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (; 6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by Culture of Mexico, the country' ...

, José Guadalupe Posada, Francisco I. Madero,

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

, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz,

Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori (; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915) was a General (Mexico), Mexican general and politician who was the dictator of Mexico from 1876 until Mexican Revolution, his overthrow in 1911 seizing power in a Plan ...

Agustín de Iturbide Agustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Arámburu (; 27 September 178319 July 1824), commonly known as Agustín de Iturbide and later by his regnal name Agustín I, was the first Emperor of Mexico from 1822 until his abdication in 1823. An offi ...

, Ignacio Manuel Altamirano,

Maximilian I of Mexico Maximilian I (; ; 6 July 1832 – 19 June 1867) was an Austrian Empire, Austrian archduke who became Emperor of Mexico, emperor of the Second Mexican Empire from 10 April 1864 until his execution by the Restored Republic (Mexico), Mexican Republ ...

Juan de Zumárraga Juan de Zumárraga, OFM (1468 – June 3, 1548) was a Spanish Basque Franciscan prelate and the first Bishop of Mexico. He was also the region's first inquisitor. He wrote ''Doctrina breve'', the first book published in the Western Hemisphe ...

Antonio López de Santa Anna Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón (21 February 1794 – 21 June 1876),Callcott, Wilfred H., "Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez De,''Handbook of Texas Online'' Retrieved 18 April 2017. often known as Santa Anna, wa ...

Winfield Scott Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as Commanding General of the United States Army from 1841 to 1861, and was a veteran of the War of 1812, American Indian Wars, Mexica ...

Victoriano Huerta José Victoriano Huerta Márquez (; 23 December 1850 – 13 January 1916) was a Mexican general, politician, engineer and dictator who was the 39th President of Mexico, who came to power by coup against the democratically elected government of ...

José Martí José Julián Martí Pérez (; 28 January 1853 – 19 May 1895) was a Cuban nationalism, nationalist, poet, philosopher, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero because of his role in ...

, Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera,

Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca (December 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions o ...

, Nicolás Zúñiga y Miranda, and La Malinche. The central focus of the mural is on a display of bourgeois complacency and values shortly before the Mexican Revolution of 1910. Elegantly dressed upper-class figures promenade under the figure of the long ruling dictator Porfirio Díaz. An indigenous family is forced back by police batons and to the right flames and violence loom. To the far left, victims of the Inquisition, wearing the penitential sanbenito robes and the conical coroza hat, are consigned to the flames at an auto-da-fé. The center of the mural is dominated by the elegantly dressed skeleton La Calavera Catrina holding arms with the Mexican graphic artist who first conceived and drew her, José Guadalupe Posada in a black suit and cane. La Catrina wears a Feathered Serpent boa around her shoulders. On La Catrina's right she is holding hands with a child version of

in short pants. Rivera's wife

is standing just behind and between him and La Catrina; Kahlo has her hand on Rivera's shoulder and she is holding a

yin-yang Originating in Chinese philosophy, yin and yang (, ), also yinyang or yin-yang, is the concept of opposite cosmic principles or forces that interact, interconnect, and perpetuate each other. Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary an ...

device. La Malinche and Posada are staring directly into each other's eyes.

Controversy

Rivera originally painted the mural with Ignacio Ramírez holding a sign reading, "Dios no existe" ("God does not exist"). Rivera refused to remove the inscription, so the mural was not shown. Nine years later, Rivera agreed to remove the offending words, stating, 'To affirm "God does not exist", I do not have to hide behind Don Ignacio Ramírez; I am an atheist and I consider religions to be a form of collective

neurosis Neurosis (: neuroses) is a term mainly used today by followers of Freudian thinking to describe mental disorders caused by past anxiety, often that has been repressed. In recent history, the term has been used to refer to anxiety-related con ...

. I am not an enemy of the

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, as I am not an enemy of the tuberculars, the

myopic Myopia, also known as near-sightedness and short-sightedness, is an eye condition where light from distant objects focuses in front of, instead of on, the retina. As a result, distant objects appear blurry, while close objects appear normal. ...

or the paralytics; you cannot be an enemy of the sick, only their good friend to help them cure themselves.'Philip Stein, ''Siqueiros: his life and works'' (International Publishers Co, 1994), , pp176

References

External links

Museo Mural Diego Rivera website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sueno de una Tarde Dominical en la Alameda Central Murals in Mexico City Paintings by Diego Rivera 1940s murals Arts in Mexico City Historic center of Mexico City Cultural depictions of Frida Kahlo Dogs in art Flags in art Horses in art Skulls in art

History

Description

Controversy

See also

References

External links