The reader -- especially one acquainted with Rivera's murals, may wonder if this painting really depicts an Indian woman. It does, notwithstanding the moderate europeanizing of the features. What gets overlooked in officialist and popular histories is how extravagantly wealthy Mexico was in the 17th and 18th centuries. Cromwellian spies (yes indeed!) reported that there was so much wealth even tradesmen had hats studded with pearls. Contemporaneous accounts of Sunday promenades along the Mexico City's canals by crillos, mestizos and Indians alike paint a picture of a brilliant society at ease with itself. This is not to say that corruption, oppression, inequities and conflicts did not exist, it is simply to note that there was more to the picture than has been painted. This painting depicts an Indian woman who was prosperously integrated into urban life.
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