Mexican Murals - The Kiss of Death

It is getting close to the Day of the Dead in Mexico, and so I deemed it appropriate to share a mural that addresses our mortality and the beauty in death. Not that these kind of images appeared recently, in Mexico they are around pretty much all the time, but seeing that it's late October already, this seems be the perfect time to post about it.

Beautiful Life - Gorgeous Death

This wonderful wall painting shows two faces getting into intimate proximity to each other. The one on the left side is a beautiful young woman, in the prime of her life, with long, flowing hair, and very pretty features of soft lips and a tiny nose. She has her eyes closed as she is leaning in for a passionate kiss.

The face on the other side, about to return her kiss, is that of a skull. Though dead, she is far from being lifeless, as she looks just as passionate about this intimate encounter with the living. Instead of closing her eyes, this face has only a pair of large holes, gaping dark and wide open. Her features are also marked by hard, bony lines and edgy teeth. Interestingly for a skull, she has kept her tongue, which she intends to be using.

What she lacks in soft features she makes up for by being intricately carved and painted with flowery patterns, in a beautiful traditional Mexican style. All these colors give her an appearance of beyond lively. Compared to her living partner, who seems to suggest a fragile and fading beauty, the dead's appearance is permanent and eternal.

Important Information about the Mural

The location of this mural, just like numerous others, is on the corner of Avenida Michoacán and Diagonal Patriotismo, right on the edge of the neighborhood Condesa with San Miguel Chapultepec. The tag in the upper left-hand corner identifies the artists as Andre MX and Revost, on whose pages this mural, and many other examples of their work, can be seen.