Zapata's Horse 1930

Diego Rivera’s fresco, "Zapata's Horse," lives on the walls of the Palace of Cortés in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Imagine Rivera up there, plotting out this whole scene! The figures and images, with their dark outlines, evoke the history of Mexican muralism, but also something much older, like pre-colonial traditions. I wonder what it was like for Rivera to paint on this monumental scale. All the layering and adjustments that must have taken place – the physical labour of applying pigment to plaster. Look at the way the figures are rendered, the mix of realism and symbolism – it all adds to the story of the artwork. Rivera’s visual language is so distinctive. It shows how artists are constantly referencing and reinterpreting what came before them. It’s all one big conversation, you know?