Trees of Life




		Updated December 13, 2007

For more than one hundred years, Metepec has been known for its ceramic art and artists. At the turn of the century the town was known for its black glazeware. Today its most distinctive product is the Arbol de la Vida, or Tree of Life, a clay sculpture covered with flowers and leaves and biblical figures. The inspiration for the trees has been attributed to Aztec customs and designs plus the teaching of Franciscan monks.

The original versions of the tree of life consisted of a clay tree (on a flat base) with its branches ending in candleholders. On this tree are leaves, mold-made flowers and round balls (representing fruit) and often figures of Adam & Eve. Sometime in the 1940s it is believed Diego Rivera showed one Metepec family how to use aniline paints over a white background to create a bright polychrome effect. Rivera promoted the ceramic trees in Mexico City and collected them himself along with his wife Frida Kahlo.

In the late 1960s, the artists changed from aniline paints to acrylic because the older aniline paints faded or rubbed off when handled. Late in the 1960s and early 1970s many of the trees were left unpainted to create a distinctive look.

Today, the trees of Metepec (also crosses and trees of death) have become one of the most well-known objects in Mexican folk art and are collected all over the world. And artists in other parts of Mexico have begun doing their own renditions of Trees of Life (and death) using their own local techniques.

Check out the Day of the Dead and Christmas sections also for trees of death and Nativity trees.

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