Marrakech – A forgotten mural by renowned Mexican artist Ángel Zárraga has been discovered in a Catholic church in Mohammedia, revealing an unknown chapter of Mexican muralism in Morocco.
According to Mexico’s El Universal, diplomat and researcher Andrés Ordóñez made the discovery during his tenure as Mexican ambassador to Morocco. The artwork, located in Santiago Church in Mohammedia, represents a rare example of Mexican muralist art in North Africa.
Ordóñez learned of the mural’s existence in 2015 when colleague José Luis Martínez y Hernández mentioned an internet auction featuring a supposed sketch of Zárraga’s work in Morocco. The diplomat began searching for the piece during his travels between Rabat and Casablanca.
The church housing the mural was built between 1933 and 1934 by architects Alexandre and Pierre Fournier. It was commissioned by the Hersent brothers, George and Jean-Baptiste, prominent figures in Fedala – the former name of modern-day Mohammedia – and key contributors to the city’s early development.
The church was inaugurated on October 28, 1934, with Cardinal Jean Verdier, Archbishop of Paris, in attendance during Morocco’s French protectorate period.
Ordóñez located the church after discovering that Fedala was the original name of Mohammedia, changed in 1960 to honor King Mohammed V. Father Julien, the parish priest, was unaware of the artwork’s significance but provided access to the diplomat.
Unfinished panels hint at hidden history
The mural measures 2.35 meters long by 1.90 meters high and occupies the baptistery’s front wall. Ordóñez describes it as a canvas painted in Paris and transported to Morocco, possibly rolled, as no evidence suggests Zárraga ever visited North Africa.
The artwork depicts Saint James in three vertical sections. The left shows semi-nude figures of Saint Peter and brothers Saint James and Saint John, the first disciples of Jesus.
The central section features Saint James in pilgrim attire, holding a deceased soldier named Jacques, whose head bears a halo despite Catholic prohibition against aureoles for non-sanctified persons.
“The audacity of Zárraga puts the painting at the edge of heresy,” Ordóñez explained, noting the artist’s participation in religious art modernization movements.
Research revealed that Jacques Hildevert Hersent, son of Jean-Baptiste and nephew of George Hersent, died in World War I at age 24. The Hersent brothers built the church and a school in his memory, with the mural commemorating the fallen soldier.
Ordóñez’s investigation uncovered architectural plans suggesting three additional Zárraga panels were projected for the same space. “The most interesting thing is that in the same space of the mural that concerns us, there had to be three other murals,” he said. “The question is whether they were painted and destroyed, never painted, or painted and hidden under plaster.”
Diplomatic efforts push for mural restoration
The diplomat approached Mexico’s National Institute of Fine Arts (INBA) about restoration possibilities. After the Zárraga family wrote to Mexico’s presidency, the Culture Ministry responded with a brief assessment based on photographs.
The ministry acknowledged “small impacts with pictorial layer losses” and “areas with pictorial layer loss due to abrasion or erosion” around the lower perimeter. Officials noted the work has never been restored and likely has significant dust accumulation.
However, the ministry showed little interest in a recovery project, requesting additional documentation and concluding that while they have restoration specialists, they lack resources for on-site assessment.
Morocco’s ambassador to Mexico, Abdelffatah Lebbar, expressed willingness for bilateral collaboration. “The ambassador tells me that what’s missing is a manifestation of interest from Mexican cultural authorities to carry out a joint project,” Ordóñez said. “That INBA or Culture Ministry contact the embassy, referencing this mural, and proposing a bilateral cooperation project for its rescue.”
The 2026 commemorations of Zárraga’s 140th birth anniversary and 80th death anniversary could provide a framework for restoration efforts. The artist’s family plans an exhibition with Mexico’s National Art Museum.
Ordóñez argues that Zárraga has been excluded from Mexican muralism for ideological reasons rather than artistic merit. “He was excluded because he didn’t fit into the post-Vasconcelos revolutionary nationalism rhetoric,” he explained.
“When José Vasconcelos left the Ministry of Public Education, Rivera gained control of the movement mounted on biased mestizaje rhetoric that assumed the indigenous person as victim and proletarian.”
The researcher notes that Vasconcelos wanted to integrate indigenous people into progress as interlocutors, not victims. Similarly, Zárraga was neither hispanophobic nor did he hide his Catholicism, putting him against post-revolutionary Mexico’s currents.
“At this point in the 21st century, continuing to exclude Zárraga for those reasons is an error,” Ordóñez concluded. “His inclusion would broaden Mexican muralism’s spectrum and provide a much more complete notion of Mexican culture, given that Catholic religiosity has been and continues being a very important element of Mexican people’s cultural life.”
The discovery recalls an anecdote where Octavio Paz and Rodolfo Usigli visited Picasso, who only remembered “his painter friend” Ángel Zárraga among Mexican artists, describing him as intelligent, refined, and cultured. When Usigli angrily questioned how Picasso only recalled Zárraga, Paz responded: “What’s incomprehensible is that we Mexicans have forgotten him.”
