Sugar Plantation, Tealtenango, Morelos and Indian Slaves in the Gold Mines 

Diego Rivera painted this mural called Sugar Plantation, Tealtenango, Morelos and Indian Slaves in the Gold Mines, using fresco. Here, Rivera shows the brutal reality of labor in Mexico, likely created in the first half of the 20th century. We see a landowner on horseback overseeing Indigenous laborers, as they are harvesting sugar cane. The back-breaking labor and the overseer are signifiers of Mexico's history of oppression and economic inequality. The lower portion of the mural depicts men mining gold, this underscores the exploitation of natural resources and Indigenous people that has shaped the country. Rivera used this type of imagery to provoke reflection on the deep-seated issues in Mexican society. Historians rely on archival documents, social histories, and the writings of artists themselves to fully understand works like this. The meaning of art is always conditioned by its social and institutional context.