FINE ARTS, PALACE OF

Spanish Palacio De Bellas Artes, cultural centre in Mexico City that was built between 1904 and 1934. The palace contains a large theatre, concert hall, museum of popular arts, and halls and galleries for paintings and other works of art. Balcony lobbies display murals by Diego Rivera, Jos Clemente Orozco, and other Mexican artists. Examples of 19th- and 20th-century Mexican painting and special displays of paintings and sculpture are featured. A national showplace, the Palace of Fine Arts has interior architectural decorations representing Mexican plant and animal life and masks recalling pre-Hispanic traditions. The stage in the main theatre is fitted with a curtain made of pieces of coloured glass designed by the Mexican artist Doctor Atl (Gerardo Murillo) and made in New York City by Louis Comfort Tiffany in 1911. A huge dome surmounts the palace. The whole building sank more than 15 feet (4.6 m) into the ground after its completion.