Word: muralism
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...Costilla. The father of Mexican independence, Hidalgo was shot by a firing squad in 1811 after leading a revolt against Spain, and since then every artist worth his salt has honored him with a portrait. Diego Rivera has shown Hidalgo's brooding visage in half a dozen murals; Jose Clemente Orozco depicted him with a flaming torch of liberty and counted the painting among his greatest works. The last of the big three to tackle Hidalgo is David Alfaro Siqueiros, who was commissioned by San Nicolas University in Morelia to paint a mural for a celebration commemorating the 200th...
...eight strenuous days & nights, Communist Siqueiros turned out a 10-ft.-square mural hopefully calculated to stir up a lively religious row. Done with a luminous, three-dimensional effect, the painting shows Hidalgo before a Spanish firing squad, one bullet-riddled hand still clasped to his breast in the moment before a final volley cut him down. His accuser is a mitered Catholic archbishop, stiff-backed and sinister, holding a standard topped with a cross. Beneath is a Spanish crown and Siqueiros' own paraphrase of the death sentence: "Excommunication and death penalty for Miguel Hidalgo for professing and spreading...
...dedication ceremony in Morelia last week, all was unexpectedly quiet. A group of 100 dignitaries marched in, stood under the mural, and marched out again without a word. Small groups of students and teachers trickled in to look, left to think it over before saying much. Siqueiros seemed disappointed that no riot had broken out, added hopefully: "The students in the university are progressive. They will like it, but wait until outsiders see it." Just to make sure, Siqueiros planned to address a mass meeting in Morelia to explain his mural, had friends plaster reproductions all over Mexico City...
...area at a time, Pelliccioli started his monumental job on the 13¼-by-29¼-ft.surface almost two years ago. His main guide was a faithful copy of the Last Supper painted by a follower named Andrea Solario in 1520, only 22 years after Leonardo had finished the mural. Solario's copy was destroyed during World War II, but Pelliccioli has a photograph of it and a vivid memory. First he took minute samplings of the surface where past restorers had painted on overlapping layers, then painstakingly scraped down to the original, finally swabbed over Leonardo...
...dough-faced creatures with bird-thin legs and toothless smiles. The colors were as exuberant as the designs: heads in chartreuse and grey, faces that were half yellow, half blue, with startling vermilion circles under the eyes. One of the favorites was a group project: a huge mural of Charlestown with all the details, including a nest of pigeon eggs perched on a church ledge...