Bank Note: Mexico, 20 Pesos

Pictured on the left is the Benito Juárez Hemicycle (Hemiciclo a Juárez). The monument is located in the Alameda central park in Mexico’s capital. It was built and erected in 1910, following President Porfirio's commission, to commemorate the nation's 100th anniversary of independence. The political goals of this monument were to honor the president’s contemporary Juárez as the successor of the Independence movement as well as to place Porfirio Díaz's regiment on a path toward growth and peace.

The monument itself depicts Juárez holding the constitution of 1857 in his right hand. The seated figure of Juárez is being crowned by the winged embodiment of the Republic. She is accompanied by the allegory of Glory, who is carrying a sword that is resting on the ground to represent the end of the war and a torch to represent progress. The combined figures of Glory and the Republic added to the effigy of Juarez perhaps serve to symbolize the progress that the former president brought about to the Mexican republic.

Garcia, Alain. “Billetes Mexicanos.” AlainGarcia.net, November 15, 2021. https://www.alaingarcia.net/conozca/billetes.htm#b20a.

Lugo, Felipa Irene. 2012. "Celebrating Modernity Or Modernismo? Art in Mexico City's 1910 Centenary of Independence." Order No. 1520573, Tulane University. https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/celebrating-modernity-i-modernismo-art-mexico/docview/1140665208/se-2.

“PS-687.” Bank Note Museum. Accessed August 23, 2023. http://www.banknote.ws/COLLECTION/countries/AME/MEX/MEX-SPEC/MEXS0687.htm.

Torres, Yessica. “El Hemiciclo Donde Porfirio Díaz Quería Dar Discursos.” El Universal, March 21, 2020. https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/opinion/mochilazo-en-el-tiempo/el-hemiciclo-donde-porfirio-diaz-queria-dar-discursos/.