Mexico's Flashy New Museum Features Religious Art

NPR
By Jason Beaubien

The Soumaya Museum in Mexico City was designed by Carlos Slim's
son-in-law and houses Slim's collection of more than 65,000 pieces.

MEXICO - In Mexico City, the world's richest man has just opened a new museum to showcase his extensive European and Mexican art collection. Telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim calls the museum a gift to his country. The glimmering, modern [$800 million] building is already being hailed as a new landmark in Mexico's capital. Slim's collection of more than 65,000 pieces is dominated by European artists, including El Greco, Van Gogh, Matisse, Degas and Picasso. There's an entire section for religious art: A Mexican portrait of the Virgin of Guadalupe hangs next to a Spanish painting of the Virgin of Toledo. Alfonso Miranda Marquez, the director of the Soumaya says his goal is for the museum to become a cultural icon in Mexico City and present a different side of the capital. [link]