Regarding this artwork, how does the Independence, Reform, Revolution Panel's 1. The War of Independence (1810–21) incorporate the General Manuel Mier y Terán (1789-1832)?
= General Manuel Mier y Terán (1789-1832) Arturo García Bustos does not illustrate executions on the mural or other forms of death but in the image below, he shows a suicide, the result of General Manuel Mier y Terán, who helped lead the assault on Oaxaca, “falling on his sword” after his troops were defeated in another military exercise in 1832. The sword appears in the image as does the skull on the extreme left. The skull represents Mictlāntēcutli, the god of death, for the Aztecs and called Kedo by the Zapotecs.
Summing up the scene above, and putting it into a larger context, the image below reflects the arc of life starting on the left with the god of life Ehécatl, moving to the middle with three generations of women who maintain life, refreshed by a flowing stream, and ending with Mictlāntēcutli, the god of death. The mother with her child is celebrating her ancestors with cempasúchil flowers, technically called Tagetes erecta or Marigolds in English. The grandmother in the back supports the mother and child. Generally speaking to the left of the image below, the mural highlights reform and to the right we have images mostly from the War of Independence.
Ehécatl Mictlāntēcutli Arturo García Bustos Oaxaca English celebrating Zapotec War of Independence Zapotecs fall Independence Tagetes erecta Aztecs General Manuel Mier y Terán mural execution left