Diego Rivera’s Cryptic Artistic Tribute to Mexican Crypto-Jews

Considered one of Mexico’s greatest artists, and twice the husband of Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera once remarked, “Jewishness is the dominant element of my life.” Although not Jewish himself, he was proud of his descent from Spanish Jews who converted to Catholicism rather than face expulsion. Many such conversos or “New Christians” came to the New World hoping to get away from the prying eyes of the Inquisition, or to escape the stigma attached to their ancestry. Among them was Luis de Carvajal the Elder (1539-1591), who was appointed royal governor of Mexico in 1579, and came there with his family—at least some of whom adhered to Judaism in secret. In his 51-foot-long mural Dreams of a Sunday in the Alameda (1946-7), which depicts the history of Mexico City, Rivera pays tribute to the Carvajals. The blog FirstOneThrough explains what became of them, and their significance for Rivera: