Diego Rivera Murals in National Palace, Mexico City by JN Singh The National Palace is the seat of the federal executive in Mexico. It is located on Mexico City's main square, the Plaza de la Constitución (El Zócalo). This site has been a palace for the ruling class of Mexico since the Aztec Empire, and much of the current palace's building materials are from the original one that belonged to the 16th century leader Moctezuma II. In the stairwell is a mural by the celebrated Mexican painter and muralist Diego Rivera, depicting the history of Mexico from 1521 to 1930, and covers an area of 450 m2. These murals were painted between 1929 and 1935, jointly titled "The Epic of the Mexican People". The work is divided like a triptych with each being somewhat autonomous. The right-hand wall contains murals depicting pre-Hispanic Mexico and centers around the life of the Aztec god Quetzalcóatl. Quetzalcóatl appears in the mural as a star, a god, and a human being. Created by serpents, he sails through space as a star that accompanies the sun at night. Quetzalcóatl then assumes a human body to teach the Aztec people as their king and patriarch. Last, when he sacrifices his blood to give life to men, he returns to the sky having completed his earthly cycle. Once he leaves the earth, Quetzalcóatl assumes the shape the morning star, called Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli. The cycle that he undergoes signifies the continuous cycle of life. Rivera's creation of a Mexican identity helps to continue the reform that began with the Mexican Revolution of 1910. https://flic.kr/p/2ixPhwi