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All the United States New Hampshire Hanover The Epic of American Civilization

The Epic of American Civilization

3,200-square-foot mural inside Dartmouth Library depicts the history of America with images of human sacrifice, ancient gods, and other unspeakable terrors.

Hanover, New Hampshire

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J.W. Ocker
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One wall of The Epic of American Civilization   http://www.OddThingsIveSeen.com
One wall of The Epic of American Civilization   http://www.OddThingsIveSeen.com
One of the 24 panels of The Epic of American Civilization   http://www.OddThingsIveSeen.com
One of the 24 panels of The Epic of American Civilization   http://www.oddthingsiveseen.com
All photos taken 06JUL16 on LG Android.   Maharaji Rastafari / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Created by Mexican-born artist José Clemente Orozco, The Epic of American Civilization mural wraps around the interior walls of both wings of the large reserve corridor in the Baker Library at 250-year-old Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Started in 1932, it took Orozco two years to finish the work, which is made up of 24 individual panels painted directly onto the wet plaster of the walls. It covers a surface area of approximately 3,200 square feet.

The Epic of American Civilization depicts the history of America in an unconventional way. Orozco’s history dedicates half of its size to the rise and fall of the Aztec Empire, spends a few brief square feet on the influence of Spanish and European culture on North America, and then ends with a meditation on the promises and perils of a modern industrialized society.

The narrative of the mural is told primarily through metaphor. It includes such images as human sacrifice, serpent-faced and fire-wreathed pagan gods, sinister-looking machines, Christ with an axe, Quetzalcoatl on a raft of snakes, and a skeleton giving birth.

Adapted with Permission from: The New England Grimpendium by J.W. Ocker

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Museums And Collections Outsider Art

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Added By

JWOcker

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Maharaji Rastafari

  • Maharaji Rastafari

Published

May 31, 2012

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  • The New England Grimpendium: http://www.amazon.com/New-England-Grimpendium-J-Ocker/dp/0881509191/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279457058&sr=8-1
The Epic of American Civilization
6025 Baker-Berry Library
Hanover, New Hampshire, 03755
United States
43.705317, -72.288569
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