Four historic 1915 murals in Balboa Park.

Renowned artist Carlos Vierra painted six murals of Mayan cities for the 1915 Panama–California Exposition in San Diego’s Balboa Park.

Today, inside Balboa Park’s Museum of Us (formerly called the Museum of Man), visitors can view reproductions of four murals.

The Museum of Us is housed in the historic California Building. In 1915 the building was home to the San Diego Museum. “The Story of Man Through the Ages” was the San Diego Museum’s exhibit during the Panama-California Exposition, and featured the six original Vierra murals.

Should you step into the Museum of Us, you can find two of the reproduced murals on the ground floor, in the large central atrium, hung on the wall on either side of the main entrance. Two additional murals can be viewed in a gallery on the second floor directly above.

The two ground floor murals depict the ruins of prehistoric Chichén Itzá in Yucatán, Mexico.

My first pair of photographs (above) show one mural on the ground floor. As a sign explains: Central to this painting is the round building, known as the Caracol, which functioned as an observatory. Behind it lies the ballcourt, the largest such ritual playing field in Mesoamerica. To the right is the sacred cenote, the well of sacrifice.

The second pair of photographs (below) show the mural to the right of it. These murals depict the Maya architectural style known as Puuc, that prevailed from about 600 AD to 900 AD.

Decorating a gallery wall on the second floor, the two additional Vierra murals illustrate the ancient cities of Palenque and Tikal…

UPDATE!

I’ve since learned two more Vierra murals can be viewed in the museum. I’ll go in search of them next time I visit the Museum of Us, and post those photos in an update!

ANOTHER UPDATE!

Here they are…

…

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