Leonora Carrington - the Magical World of the Maya | part 2

Leonora Carrington - the Magical World of the Maya | part 2

From Art Slice - A Palatable Serving of Art History by Stephanie Dueñas & Russell Shoemaker / Art Slice

June 30, 2026 · 1h 56m

About this episode

The episode explores Leonora Carrington's mural 'The Magical World of the Maya' and its influences from her experiences in Chiapas.

VIDEO VERSION HERE: https://youtu.be/MHJ5KNFtfqU Listeners, today we are FINALLY diving into Leonora Carrington’s epic mural “The Magical World of the Maya” or “El mundo mágico de los mayas” made with casein, tempera on panel 1963-64. Picking up from Part 1, we rejoin LC after several visits to Chiapas to observe and learn from the Tzoztil, Teztil and Lacandon in Chiapas, reading and studying the Popol Vuh, she begins incorporating her own experience. Among the places she visited in Chiapas that appear in the mural are the cemetery in Romerillo, with its giant, majestic blue-green crosses; the syncretistic church of San Juan Chamula, and the former monastery of Santo Domingo in San Cristobal de las Casas. We get deep into how our Hyena Queen was so expertly able to weave together all of these influences using her unique painting technique made of those iconic tiny brushmarks and washy layers to depict all of these Mayan gods and mythical creatures. We also discuss important events that occurred during and soon after the completion of the mural including the sudden death of Remedios Varo and Jose Horna, the beginning of Mexico’s Dirty War inspiring LC’s political works…

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