Diego Rivera Mural Museum

The Diego Rivera Mural Museum, in Mexico City

The Diego Rivera Mural Museum was built in 1986 for a single purpose: to shelter and protect one of the most famous works of the greatest Mexican painter. The Mexico City audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this monumental fresco, Dream of a Sunday afternoon in the Alameda Central, that gathers more than one hundred and fifty figures of the history of Mexico over fifteen metres long.

The dream of a Sunday in the Alameda

Here is a museum that honours the most famous of Mexican painters. It was built in 1986 for the sole purpose of exhibiting one of the most popular works of Diego Rivera, entitled Sueño de una Tarde Dominical en la Alameda Central, which means Dream of a Sunday afternoon in the Alameda Central. This fresco of more than fifteen metres long stages more than one hundred and fifty figures gathered in the park of the Alameda: you recognise there Hernán Cortés, Benito Juárez, Porfirio Díaz or Frida Kahlo, but also Rivera himself, as a child, holding the hand of an elegant Catrina, the famous figure of death in the Mexican imagination. It is a true immersion in the history of Mexico, that you take in at a single glance. The fresco had been painted originally for a neighbouring hotel; after the earthquake of 1985, it was moved and a museum built expressly to host and preserve it. Beside this masterpiece, the museum presents other contemporary paintings, photographs and sculptures, as well as temporary exhibitions. It is an essential visit for whoever wants to admire the art of Diego Rivera and understand the richness of Mexican memory. A museum of art and a monumental fresco, the Diego Rivera Mural Museum is a fine stop of the discovery of Mexico City.

What to see

Here you admire the famous fresco of Diego Rivera, Dream of a Sunday afternoon in the Alameda Central, more than fifteen metres long gathering one hundred and fifty figures of the history of Mexico, from Cortés to Frida Kahlo by way of the Catrina; the museum was built in 1986 expressly to host it, after its displacement following the earthquake of 1985. The Diego Rivera Mural Museum is a jewel of Mexico City. It is a fine stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The Diego Rivera Mural Museum lies on the edge of the Alameda Central, in the heart of Mexico City, reachable on foot or by metro. The opening hours and the conditions of entry follow those of the establishment, which vary; access is generally paying. It is best to enquire before coming.

What to see at the Diego Rivera Mural Museum of Mexico City?

Its centrepiece is the fresco of Diego Rivera Dream of a Sunday afternoon in the Alameda Central, more than fifteen metres long, that gathers more than one hundred and fifty figures of the history of Mexico, from Cortés to Frida Kahlo, around the figure of the Catrina; the museum was built in 1986 to host it and also presents paintings, photographs and sculptures.

Where is the Diego Rivera Mural Museum in Mexico City?

On the edge of the Alameda Central, in the heart of the historic centre of Mexico City, in Mexico.