Anthropology Museum

Duality

A snake and a jaguar fighting. The sun and the moon fighting day by day. Red and blue as the antithesis and at the same time scenario where all the action takes place. In this scene, Tamayo wants to represent the confrontation between the day and night forces, represented by Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca.

Rufino Tamayo is perhaps one of the most important painters of the 20th century in Mexico and one of the most famous. Unique in his style, he is the father of Mexican modernism. The museum that is only a few steps away from this is the Museum of Contemporary Art. Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca for many are the main gods. The first, a feathered serpent and the second is the lord of heaven and earth. Both are duality and antagonism.

Tamayo probably chose this mural to begin this visit showing the complexity of pre-Columbian mythology. There is neither good nor bad, there are opposing antagonistic forces that are disputed but that generate a harmony and universal balance.