The Fine Arts Palace

The Fine Arts Palace principal Mexico City's museum of fine arts (Palacio de Bellas Artes). The Palace is foremost a theater but it houses the Palace museum as well as the National Museum of Architecture and galleries for paintings and other works of art.

President Porfirio Diaz ordered the construction of this building in the early 1900s. He planned to inaugurate it as part of the celebrations of the centenary of Mexico's independence from Spain. The Revolution broke out in 1910, interrupting the construction, so it was not completed until 1934. The inauguration of the Palace of Fine Arts took place on September 29, 1934, when the play "La verdad sospechosa" by Juan Ruiz de Alarcón was performed.

The building's marble Art Nouveau exterior reflects the Italian architect Adamo Boari's original plans, whereas the interior, designed by Federico Mariscal, has Art Deco elements.

The theater's main attractions are:

• A Tiffany stained glass stage curtain portraying a panoramic view of the Valley of Mexico with its two volcanos. (Tiffany Studios of New York produced the crystal curtain.)
• Murals by Rufino Tamayo, Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Jose Clemente Orozco.

References[edit]

• A Walking Tour of Mexico City

• THE PALACE OF FINE ARTS IN MEXICO CITY