Top: Scaffolding used by Rivera to paint
“Creation” mural, Bolivar Auditorium, Mexico
City,
1922
Above: Diego Rivera working on “Creation”
mural, Bolivar Auditorium, Mexico City,
1922
.
Photo Tina Modotti
That the artist was not craning his neck in
idle awe of the unattainable is proved by his
very practical sketch of a mural scaffold:
“A scaffold for working on ceilings, very
simple to move by sliding it over planks
greased with lard, slipped under the front
legs raised by means of wooden screw-levers.
“To apply the canvas to the ceiling it is
raised from the ground in this way, after
having fixed the suspending screws in place
very exactly by trial with the stretcher alone.
The scaffold is put back in place after that.”
