The Rafael Coronel Museum
Mask in the Rafael Coronel Museum
The Rafael Coronel Museum is located in the former convent of San Francisco in Zacatecas, Mexico. The convent was founded in 1567, and was burned in 1648. The structure gradually declined. Restoration began in 1949.
Rafael Coronel is a painter, and a son in law of Diego Rivera. The museum contains his collection of masks, Diego Rivera drawings, and pre-hispanic art. More than 16,000 pieces are contained in the museum.
The museum is often called the “Museum of Masks” as the majority of the collection is made up of masks. It costs $30 pesos to enter.
The masks and art are pretty interesting, but the building itself is also worth seeing. You can enter the grounds and wander around without paying the entry fee. The day we arrived, it was lightly raining so we spent some time both inside and outside. I enjoyed the ruins of the building. There are some more photos of the building and the exhibits below. As always, click an image to see a larger version.
Ex-Convent of San Francisco, Zacatecas
Ex-Convent of San Francisco, Zacatecas
Ex-Convent of San Francisco, Zacatecas
Ex-Convent of San Francisco, Zacatecas
Ex-Convent of San Francisco, Zacatecas
Puppets in the Rafael Coronel Museum
Masks in the Rafael Coronel Museum
Masks in the Rafael Coronel Museum
Hi Peter–I stumbled across your post as I was doing a bit of research on Zacatecas post-my own recent trip there. The Museo Rafael Coronel was one of my favorite things that I had the chance to check out during my admittedly very brief time in the city, and you snapped some lovely photos of the place.
If you’d like to check out my own experience in the city, I invite you to head towards this link:
http://www.crosscontinentcruising.com/zacatecas-mexico/
I’ll be following your blog!
Thanks for the history on the ex convent! What a fascinating place! We only got to explore the grounds as it was late.
It’s a really cool place — it was raining the day we were there, or we’d probably have spent more time outside. Thanks for the comment!