Vatican Museums

This watercolour, far from the typical production of Diego Rivera, whose fame is indissolubly linked to his extraordinary work as a muralist, is an interesting example of a secondary tendency: the production of watercolours, gouaches and drawings. In particular, the dancing warrior belongs to the series entitled Carnaval de Huejotzingo: works dedicated to the characters of one of the most renowned Mexican carnivals, which originated to commemorate the festivities in the agricultural year of the God of rain and fertility, Tlaloc. During the celebrations, people pour into the streets with their faces covered by wooden masks, presumably similar to the one worn by this vividly colourful guerrero. The work probably belongs to the phase in which four large paintings were conceived; depicting festivals in Mexico and intended for the Hotel Reforma, three of them are now preserved in the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City.