Hermenegildo Bustos

[1] Despite growing up in a small village, his youth was subject to the turmoils of the time, including a cholera epidemic, "La Desamortización" and the establishment of the Mexican nation.

At various times, he worked as a tinsmith, tailor, carpenter, musician and mason; also displaying an affinity for history and astronomy.

[2] His only formal artistic studies were six months spent with Juan Nepomuceno Herrera (1818–1878), a portrait painter from nearby León, who apparently taught him little and treated him like a servant.

For two weeks in 1858, Purísima played host to President-elect Benito Juárez, who decided to establish an office there, and Bustos was chosen to paint his portrait (now lost).

[4] Following the Mexican Revolution, the nation's cultural heritage was reassessed and Bustos' work gained more notice, eventually receiving significant attention in the book Pintura Mexicana by Roberto Montenegro.