The Museo Diego Rivera Anahuacalli or simply Anahuacalli Museum is a museum located in Coyoacán, in the south of Mexico City.
The unique museum was conceived and created by muralist, Diego Rivera, who, motivated by his own interest in Mexican culture, collected nearly 50,000 pre-Hispanic pieces during his life, and projected a building to place and exhibit them. Rivera and his wife, the painter, Frida Kahlo, intended to build two museums as a legacy for Mexico. The house that he and Kahlo lived in, known as La Casa Azul (The Blue House) now houses the Frida Kahlo Museum and is located 3.1 miles away, in the heart of the former village of Coyoacán. The Anahuacalli was completed after Rivera's death by architects, Juan O'Gorman and Heriberto Pagelson as well as Rivera's daughter, Ruth. In addition, the twin home-studios that O'Gorman designed for the couple, in nearby San Angel, has also become a museum, es: Museo Casa Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo.
The Anahuacalli is built of black volcanic stone (obtained from the terrain in which the Xitle volcano erupted). It takes the form of a pyramid. The museum items are collected from almost every indigenous civilization in Mexico's history. On the second floor, there is an exhibition room dedicated to the life and works of Rivera, as well as an observation deck.
The word Anahuacalli literally means "house of Anahuac" in Nahuatl.
Interior
Museo de Diego Rivera / CoyoacaÌn/CDMX / Anahuacalli - Acompáñame a conocer uno de mis lugares favoritos!, el centro de Coyoacán.
The building forms a teocalli (god-house), and its design is notably influenced by the Teotihuacan culture as can be appreciated in the building’s boards, recreating the image of the rain god, Tlaloc. It also shows Maya and Aztec influences, which can be seen in the hexagonal (Maya) and rectangular (Aztec) arcs that serve as entrances to the different showrooms.
There are funerary urns, masks and sculptures from the ancient culture of Teotihuacan, and a smaller gallery next to the pyramid contains an exhibition of papier mache sculpture relating to the Days of the Dead, celebrated from October 31 to November 2.
References
See also
- Frida Kahlo Museum
- Museo Mural Diego Rivera
External links
- Walkerphotographix.com: Photo Tour of the Anahuacalli Museum
- Recorridosvirtuales.com: Virtual 360° Tour of the Anahuacalli Museum
