Juan Cordero

[1] Cordero's parents originally expected him to join the family business, but eventually recognized his talent and enrolled him at the Academia de San Carlos.

[2] By 1844, he had become so accomplished that his father gathered together as much money as he could (apparently even selling the family piano) and sent him to study in Rome at the Accademia di San Luca.

His primary instructor in Rome was the Spanish painter, Pelegrí Clavé, but he was also influenced by the Nazarene movement and Filippo Agricola.

It was called "The Triumph of Science and Industry Over Ignorance and Sloth", and was the first Mexican mural on a secular philosophical theme.

Before its destruction, the work was apparently copied by Juan de Mata Pacheco [es], but it is not certain that his painting of the same name is an accurate reproduction.

Artists started melding art and politics as a way to reclaim their cultural identity apart from their colonizers to continue the tradition of mural painting in the Catholic church.

It also dominated education and political thought for many artists, an example of this is Juan Cordero's “Triumph of Science and Labor Over Envy and Ignorance” (1874, Mexico City, Escuela N.P).

This usage of murals to express political ideas later inspired other famous Mexican muralists of the 1920 such as Diego Rivera, José Orozco and David Siqueiros.

The painting depicts an imagined historical event when Columbus returned from exploring the Americas and met with the King and Queen of Spain, Fernando, and Isabella.

The academy exhibition itself sparked one of the first public debates over secular history paintings, due in part to the propaganda of the postcolonial government.

While many historical paintings were praised for the innovation that led to civil discourse, it also allowed the bourgeoise elites and the monarchs to promote a social hierarchy within Mexico with the express goal of wanting to assimilate the indigenous population into the political structure.