The artist also explains: “Somos un pueblo con una historia antigua que ha demostrado su genio labrando piedras para edificar ciudades que quisieron alcanzar las estrellas, espacios reales en armonía con los paisajes, el cosmos y el hombre.” (“We are a people with an ancient history that has demonstrated its genius by carving stones to build cities that wanted to reach the stars, real spaces in harmony with the landscapes, the cosmos and man”)[8] A glossy government-sponsored book about the history of Oaxaca published in 2019, includes this summary about the mural: "Si para un visitante es interesante apreciar estos murales, para un oaxaqueño debe ser obligatorio conocer cada una de sus imágenes y sentirse orgulloso de esta tierra mexicana."

[13] The contract to paint the mural was granted without competition, by the governor Eliseo Jiménez Ruiz after an initial conservation with the brother of García Bustos and of course a longer conversation and demonstration of a partial mock-up.

Vasconcelos, a man with deep connections to the past, lived in Coyoacán, a colonial neighbourhood of Mexico City in the home that Hernán Cortés is said to have built for his interpreter-mistress.

García Bustos, always the champion of Mexican history and antiquity, purchased the home in the early 1960s and lived there for half a century, painting with his wife, the artist, Rina Lazo.

[30] Google Translate converts the above to: "The word pre-Hispanic has a connotation of "appearance" of the Mesoamerican peoples in history after the arrival of Hernán Cortés and the Hispanics who accompanied him; Previously, Mesoamerica was a region inhabited by diverse civilizations and cultures, many of them in interethnic contact."

As one can gather from the example of teosintle below, it was small with a few minuscule, hard grains and creating soft, sweet corn, in large cobs, from the original wild grass was a major exercise of observation and patience.

In November 1521, just three months after conquering Tenochtitlán, (Mexico City), Hernán Cortés sent Francisco de Orozco and 400 Aztec warriors to take Huaxyacac as it was known then and Oaxaca, as it is called today.

Miguel Cabrera was born in what is now called the state of Oaxaca and became famous for his rendering of Sor Juana, the Virgin of Guadalupe, pictured below and many other Baroque pieces.

[94] Philanthropy, cochineal, Church organs, music, Catholicism and imposing architecture were some of the outstanding elements of the Baroque Era in Oaxaca and they are represented in the mural.

[96][97] A small brown dog, perhaps an Xoxo or Xoloitzcuintle,[98] near the left elbow of Don Fiallo evokes symbolism of the Dominican order, the first to send friars to Oaxaca.

When Hernán Cortés made his first landing in what is now Mexico, at San Juan de Ulúa on Maundy Thursday, April 21, 1519, it is said that he immediately ordered the erection of a cross.

And imposing former convents, called ex-convents, are spread throughout the city have served as various public and private buildings including hospitals, jails, museums, hotels and schools.

[b] We have seen evidence of the playfulness of Arturo García Bustos in his portrayal of himself as a pre-Hispanic character, and in the image of an angel helping Miguel Carrera paint the famous portrait of Sor Juana.

Two insurgents, apparently the two at the back wearing hats typical of mule drivers, are celebrated in Oaxaca in the street Armenta y López, located near the Palacio de Gobierno.

Besieged at Huajuapan de Leó, 170 kilometers from Antequera, Trujano held out for 111 days, resisting 15 assaults, until he received reinforcements sent by the revolutionary leader José María Morelos.

Arturo García Bustos does not illustrate executions on the mural or other forms of death but in the image below, he shows a suicide, the result of General Manuel Mier y Terán, who helped lead the assault on Oaxaca, “falling on his sword” after his troops were defeated in another military exercise in 1832.

This criticism is prominent in Facebook posts by Mexicans, who while taking a swipe at Juárez for the foregoing, then turn to Porfirio Díaz claiming he was a superior president because he advanced the economy and gained international prestige for Mexico.

These victories, under Díaz also prepared the republican forces to attack Querétaro, take Maximillian prisoner, execute him and to enter Mexico City without resistance, and restore the Republic, with Juárez as president on July 15, 1867.

Si no has oído su vibración intensa, ¡Tanto peor para ti!” Or in English: Words to Mexicans "The Clock of History is about to mark, with its inexorable needle, the moment in which it will bring about the death of a dying society.

Arturo García Bustos recognized that Ricardo Flores Magón was a major player in the history of Oaxaca and Mexico but he placed himself at the higher level of importance as Benito Juárez, Margaret Maza and José Maria Morelos.

His travels led him to Eastern Germany, Cuba and Guatemala where he learned about international socialist movements including the Russian sponsored World Peace Council.

Madero was captured and assassinated along with vice-president Pino Suárez in a series of events now called the Ten Tragic Days,[175] The ensuing chaos impacted Oaxaca as we will see below.

On the left side of the panel, beside the images of Madero and Suárez, the artist placed three Mexican leaders from Oaxacan, Nazario Chacon Pineda [182] Andrés Henestrosa Morales, and José Vasconcelos Calderón.

olive flower If by bringing your ears closer to the primitive conch shell, the wind will propagate repeated, the complaint origins love girl, born on the impalpable thorn of martyrdom, the wave would shake the sea of feeling, the tiny boat of meaning; quick to the pulse and the unusual heartbeat, akin to longing and delirium.

In addition to his prose and poetry, Henestrosa was elected to the federal legislature, serving three terms in the Chamber of Deputies, as a senator representing the state of Oaxaca from 1982 to 1988.

We referred to José Vasconcelos at the beginning of this Wikipedia article under the background section because he was the government official who is credited with initiating the project to create public art like the murals of Diego Rivera.

La Revolución ya no quiere, como en sus días de extravío, cerrar las escuelas y perseguir a los sabios” The above, translated, by machine, into English is: “The position I occupy puts me in the duty of becoming an interpreter of popular aspirations, and on behalf of that people that sends me, I ask you, and together with you all the intellectuals of Mexico, to come out of your ivory towers.

The eminent historian Enrique Krauze, who is cited in several places in this article, claims that Vasconcelos would have won if the election had not been rigged in favour of Pascual Ortiz Rubio.

The bottom left corner of the middle panel illustrates a parade with brass instruments, colorful Huipil blouses of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and a flute player.

In the mural Garcia Bustos portrays the conflicts that have risen in Oaxaca, from a liberal perspective, for example focusing on the deeds of Benito Juárez rather than Porfirio Díaz.