Mural de la Prehistoria

Used with permission of the photographer, Melissa Sakal

Used with permission of the photographer, Melissa Sakal

Used with permission of the photographer, Ted Trager

Status

Extant

Address

Vinales, Pinar del Rio, 22400, Cuba

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About the Artist/Site

The mural was designed in 1959 (or 1961?) by the painter Leovigildo Gonzalez Morillo. Leovigildo studied the work of Diego Rivera, and was a scientist as well as the director of Cartography at the Cuban Academy of Sciences. Located in the Sierra de los Organos, the mogote Pita was cleaned and drains were installed before the mural was painted to ensure that the work would be able to withstand erosion over time. At 120 meters high and 160 meters wide, the Mural de la Prehistoria is one of the world's largest outdoor murals. It was completed with the help of 18 to 20+ local residents who hung from parachute chords to paint the mural using brushes over the course of four (or five?) years. The mural's stylized illustrations of snails, dinosaurs, sea creatures, and humans symbolize evolutionary stages over time.

~Melissa Sakal