The Murals of the Cabañas Museum
On the walls, vaults and the drum of the dome of the Main Chapel of the Cabañas Museum we find the most representative mural work by José Clemente Orozco.
A Home for the Most Vulnerable
The facility owes its name to Bishop Juan Cruz Ruiz de Cabañas y Crespo, who arrived in Mexico in 1796 and had as his purpose the construction of a shelter for orphaned, elderly and homeless children.
Boys and girls at the Cabañas Hospice
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Cabañas Museum
In 1980 its vocation changed to become a center for the dissemination of arts and culture.
Museo Cabañas linternilla (2020) by Cultura JaliscoJalisco Culture
Murals in the Main Chapel
In 1937, at the invitation of the Government of the State of Jalisco, the artist José Clemente Orozco began to paint the interior of the Main Chapel. The 57 vibrant frescoes were completed in 1939.
José Clemente Orozco
Orozco was born in Zapotlán el Grande, Jalisco in 1883. He was a caricaturist, painter and one of the most outstanding exponents of Muralism, an artistic movement that emerged after the Mexican Revolution of 1910.
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The Man of Fire
The murals of the Cabañas Museum have as their central figure in the vaulted dome "The Man of Fire", today considered by critics to be the masterpiece of the Jalisco muralist.
Trabajadores de los murales de la Capilla del Hospicio Cabañas by Fondo AntiguoJalisco Culture
The Process
The dome is 27 meters high and is 11 meters in diameter. In order to carry out the mural painting, a complex system of wooden scaffolding was built.
Parte central de la Capilla Mayor del Museo Cabañas (1939) by José Clemente OrozcoJalisco Culture
The Technique
The murals were made in fresco, a technique that consists of applying mineral pigments diluted in lime water on a wet mortar of slaked lime.
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Themes
Orozco's frescoes in the Cabañas Museum deal with complex themes: from social struggles and pre-Hispanic identities, to the violent process of conquest.
Museo Cabañas, visitantes con discapacidad visual y auditiva (2021) by Cultura JaliscoJalisco Culture
inclusive Museum
Today the Cabañas Museum is working on strategies to expand the mural experience for all people.
Discover more about the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Jalisco at Mariachi, Heritage of the World and The Pilgrimage of the Virgin of Zapopan.
Cultura Jalisco
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