Murals and Milagros

HIstory is told in pictures in Mexico. Huge murals remind viewers of the country's tumultuous past and of what others have fought for and often lost their lives in the quest. This one depicts Hidalgo, one of the leaders of the Independence movement against the Spanish. He and three others were beheaded, their heads carried back to Guanajuato and hang from the corners of the Granary building in the centre of town. Left there for 10 years, they served as a warning to others but apparently had the opposite effect.

Milagros tell personal stories and either give thanks to a particular saint for having been brought through it or ask for deliverance in a current trauma. Handwritten script on the painting always tells the tale. This one relates to a major flood in a mine where many workers were trapped for 5 days and 4 nights, scrambling up to higher tunnels out of the water, whilst families and other townsfolk worried about them and worked together to carry out the rescue.