In 1910, the Mexican Revolution erupted in response to decades of political repression, economic inequality, and the authoritarian rule of Porfirio Díaz. The decade-long armed conflict fundamentally reshaped the country, ushering in a new post-revolutionary government that sought to construct a unified national identity grounded in Indigenous heritage, revolutionary ideals, and social progress. This vision found its most powerful expression in muralism, a state-sponsored movement that transformed public buildings into grand visual narratives of Mexico’s past and future.

In 1921, José Vasconcelos, as head of the Ministry of Public Education, launched an ambitious cultural initiative that placed muralism at the heart of Mexico’s post-revolutionary reconstruction. More than a means of artistic expression, muralism was conceived as an educational and ideological tool, aimed at forging a cohesive national identity that merged Indigenous traditions with the ideals of modernity and social progress. Vasconcelos envisioned murals as a form of mass education, transforming public spaces into visual narratives that would instill a shared sense of history and revolutionary values in an often-illiterate population.

This approach echoed the missionary strategies of the colonial era, when religious imagery was used to instruct and convert Indigenous communities. Just as the Catholic Church had employed biblical murals and altarpieces to convey Christian teachings, the revolutionary government now harnessed monumental mural art to promote socialist and nationalist ideals. Despite its secular and anti-clerical stance, muralism retained many of the narrative structures and allegorical themes of religious iconography. Revolutionary leaders and Indigenous heroes were depicted with the grandeur of saints and prophets, their struggles mythologized into sacred epics legitimizing the new political order.

Within this framework, esoteric themes provided a deeper symbolic language that merged the spiritual with the political. This first module of the exhibit examines how leading muralists of the 1920s, such as Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, Roberto Montenegro, Xavier Guerrero and Adolfo Best Maugard, integrated esoteric elements—drawn from Theosophy, Rosicrucianism, astrology, and Masonic traditions—into their grand narratives of Mexican history. A central motif in this fusion of esotericism and nationalism was the myth of Quetzalcoatl, frequently depicted through an initiatory lens. In murals of this period, Quetzalcoatl appears as an enlightened ruler or Rosicrucian figure, symbolizing a spiritual lineage that bridged pre-Hispanic civilizations with modern Mexico’s cultural and political renewal. Astrological and Eastern themes also appeared in key murals, including those in Vasconcelos’s own office, where zodiacal symbols and references to Oriental philosophies underscored the belief in Mexico’s destiny.

Adolfo Best Maugard played a crucial role in formalizing this esoteric-nationalist aesthetic. As director of the National Department of Artistic Education, he developed his Drawing Method (1923), an artistic theory rooted in the Theosophical idea of the septenary—the notion that the universe and humanity are structured according to a sevenfold design. Best Maugard identified seven fundamental geometric motifs, which he argued formed a universal artistic language intrinsic to both pre-Hispanic and modern Mexican art. His method shaped an entire generation of artists and was incorporated into official art education, influencing figures like Roberto Montenegro, who used these motifs to create a spiritualized visual lexicon in his murals.

Beyond their artistic practice, many muralists engaged directly with esoteric organizations, which shaped their ideological and aesthetic approaches. Diego Rivera, for instance, was affiliated with the Ancient and Mystical Order Rosæ Crucis (AMORC), an American Rosicrucian organization that expanded world-wide. Similarly, José Clemente Orozco was involved with the Delphic Society, an intellectual and artistic organization founded by American philanthropist Eva Palmer and journalist Alma Reed. The society attracted Theosophists, nationalists, and artists from Mexico, Greece, and India, all of whom shared an interest in exploring spirituality and the arts.

This first module highlights how esoteric themes were integrated into the grand, state-sanctioned epic of Mexican muralism. Through archival photographs, documents, and videos, this exhibit demonstrates how esoteric themes were embedded in the broader cultural nationalism of post-revolutionary Mexico and its epic historical vision.