Mexico City 18

Posted on February 11, 2003 in Photos

“Diego Rivera’s buried in the Rotunda of Illustrious Men,” I start telling people and then Lynn cuts in “And they really mean men“.

I have no idea where they buried Frida. Guidebooks are notably reiticent about telling what happened to that broken little body. Trotsky’s ashes were interred in his backyard. Rivera got a presumptuous tomb where admirers leave red roses for his effigy to clutch. Frida’s whereabouts are unknown to me. When I find out where to look, I shall pay her a visit.

The Rotunda isn’t a building, but a circular park in the middle of the Panteon Civil de Dolores, a densely unpopulated tract of land that splits Chapulpetec Park neatly in half. The noninhabitants (for they do not live) lie inside mausoleums, crypts, and simple tombs whose form reflects the tastes and pocketbooks of the mourners.

Graves within the Rotunda show the changing tastes of the 19th and 20th centuries. Here you find a concentrated testament to the technological and cultural changes undergone by Mexico during this time. Most unusual is the grave of the painters Siquieros who, with Orozco and Rivera, formed a trinity of mid-century muralists still revered today. Sisquieros painted in a style which could well have influenced the artists who drew Marvel super heroes. Fittingly, his tomb is surmounted by a figure who looks like a sleek, flying version of the Michelin Man.

I dedicate my photo of this interesting sculpture to Teresa of In Sequence.

There you go, Tamara. More sculptures!

I bet Natalie didn’t expect me to go on like this for so long!