Describe the characteristics of the Margarita Maza Juárez in this artwork's Independence, Reform, Revolution Panel.
García Bustos makes a statement by blending a determined, almost dour Benito Juárez with his equally determined looking partner of over 27 years, Margarita Maza. The couple married in 1843, when Juárez was a 37-year-old civil judge and the well-educated Maza was 17 years old.  Margarita's father was Italian which placed her in a much higher class than Juárez whose both parents were indigenous.  And the marriage helped inch Juárez up the social ladder in race-conscious Oaxaca. They lived in turbulent times and both were exiled to the United States at different times.  Margarita lived in New York City, and then in Washington, DC, and two of their young sons died there, in 1864 and 1865. In Washington, President Lincoln received her as the First Lady of Mexico. After Maximilian I was deposed in 1867 by Juárez forces, Margarita Maza returned to Mexico and she  lived for four more years, until she died of cancer.
Oaxaca Maximilian Benito Juárez New York City Margarita Maza