The Epic of American Civilization (1932-1934) is a monumental mural by Mexican painter José Clemente Orozco, that was commissioned by Dartmouth College. Set in the reading room of the Baker Library, the mural consists of 24 frescoes, that portray the history of the continent through both the indigenous and the European historical experience. The artist used the symmetrical structure of the reading room’s east and west wing to create historical and cultural parallels between the pre-Hispanic conquest in the east wing, and the post-conquests civilizations represented in the west wing.
Orozco begins the story of Ancient America with the arrival of Quetzalcoatl, a deity that brings a Golden Age to the continent. Accordingly, the mural withThe departure of Quetzalcoatl marks the decline of the ancient world, and later its destruction in the fresco The Prophecy, that depicts the arrival of Spanish conquistadors. In the west wing, Modern America starts with the advent of the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés, who began the first phase of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Cortés serves as Quetzalcoatl’s anti-hero counterpart: he also establishes a new society, but the subsequent panels show this world as dark and bleak. The panels Anglo-America and Hispano-America emphasize the different destructive forces of modernity. In Anglo-America, the figures stand in a neat and orderly circle, but they seem devoid of humanity as they stare at a space at the center of the panel. On the other hand, Hispano-America is a chaotic, bloody scene that shows a revolutionary hero (likely Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata) leading a battle against the rich and the military.
The layout of the mural invites the comparison between the ancient and the modern world, highlighting themes of human conflict, self-sacrifice, and regeneration. For example, the panel Ancient Human Sacrifice that depicts the Aztec ritual of human sacrifice is directly opposite the panel Modern Human Sacrifice, which shows the skeletal figure of an unknown fallen soldier. The artist establishes a clear analogy between these two panels: the religious monument is replaced by the war monument in the background, and the Aztec priest becomes a politician in the modern world. In the mural, the use of pictorial space reflects the artist’s political message. This spatial contrast is most evident in the final group of panels called [url Modern Industrial Man. These panels indicate that the future of civilization will largely be determined by the relationship between man and industry. The left panel suggests a negative conclusion in which the industry could potentially crush or imprison the modern man. This sentiment is enhanced through the tight composition: the workers are huddled together as they pull two large steel beams that burst into the foreground. The right panel represents a better, more harmonious outcome, in which the men work together to erect a skyscraper. Here, the composition is more balanced, and the man seems to be in command of the industry. In 2013, The Epic of American Civilization was designated as a National Historic Landmark.
