Mexico protesters storm gallery over nude painting of revolutionary hero Zapata

Hundreds of Mexican protesters angered by an unusual painting of revolutionary hero Emiliano Zapata have stormed into one of the country’s leading museums to demand the artwork be destroyed.

“Burn it, burn it!” chanted some 200 protesters, rallied by two farmworkers’ unions on Tuesday after General Zapata’s grandson criticised the painting as a “denigration” of the revolutionary who is still idolised by many Mexicans, particularly for his efforts to collectivise farmland.

In the painting entitled “La Revolución”, a moustachioed Zapata-esque figure is depicted naked but for a pink sombrero and high heels as he rides a white horse with an erection.

The work by Mexican artist Fabián Cháirez is part of an exhibition at Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes to mark a century since Zapata died after being shot down by enemies. Zapata was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution of 1910 that overthrew the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz, and a hero of the peasantry in his fight for land reform.

Despite an attempt by the museum director to speak to protesters, they said they would continue a sit-in at the door and delivered a 48-hour ultimatum to Mexico’s authorities to remove the painting or face unspecified action.

On Monday the grandson of Zapata had threatened to sue Mr Cháirez and the museum. Insisting that he was not being homophobic, Jorge Zapata said the painting “denigrates the figure of our general by painting him as gay”.

Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has declared 2019 as the year of Zapata, with the exhibition entitled “Emiliano. Zapata after Zapata” one of the key events to mark the centenary.

Mexico’s culture ministry and the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature responded to the protest, which also saw a counter-protest defending sexual diversity, by condemning any violent attack against freedom of expression.

“Welcome to the world of political and aesthetic debate and discrepancy,” the statement read, saying the painting “raised the level of debate about what constitutes femininity and masculinity”.

In social media comments posted since the controversy began, Mr Cháirez has said he is happy to drive forward debate and promote LGBT rights in Mexico.

“If you think feminising a national hero is offensive, you are part of the problem,” he said on Twitter.