Primitivo Miranda y la construcción visual del liberalismo

Angélica Velázquez Guadarrama

During the Mexican "Reforma War" in 1858 artist Primitivo Miranda (b. Mexico 1822-1897) completed two paintings: "Semana Santa en Cuautitlán" (Museo Nacional de Historia, INAH) and "Soldados de la Reforma en una venta" (Museo Nacional de las Intervenciones, INAH), while both have been classified under "Popular art", the historiography of art has overlooked their political and symbolic potential, as well as their aesthetic quality. The author analyzes these paintings from a political and historic perspective and proposes a study within a social and artistic context revealing the 19th century position of Liberalism concerning religious practices and the idea of nationalism as a State project. "Throughout the study it can be discover in the paintings of Miranda a critical sense and a liberal political posture, while at the same time [the author] examines the relationships of the painter...