Rafael Wenceslao Núñez Moledo was a Colombian author, lawyer, journalist and politician, who was elected president of Colombia in 1880 and in 1884. Núñez was the leader of the so-called "Regeneration" process which produced the Colombian Constitution of 1886 which was to remain until 1991.
1891 oil painting by Epifanio Garay
Rafael Núñez study
Rafael Núñez home
1888 commercial color lithograph of Núñez
The Regeneration was a political movement that emerged in Colombia in the late second half of the 19th century, led by Rafael Núñez. Its goal was to reverse the social and legal implications of the Radical Olympus era of the 1863 Constitution of Rionegro which established the United States of Colombia, made the country a federal republic and enforced the separation of church and state. The motto of Regeneration was "one nation, one goal, one God".
The dragon has the face of Regeneration president Manuel Antonio Sanclemente. Vice president José Manuel Marroquín has "the tragedy" written on his chest. An unidentified person is "the comedy". The nation of Colombia is the woman hanging from the rope, held by a monster. The faces of former president and Regeneration ideologue Rafael Núñez and other notable members of that movement are the scales of the monster. The swarm of bees, the secret police, follow the monster who moves on top of a sarcophagus with four tombstones bearing the names of the victims of government persecution. The hat reads "Neither Freedom nor Order" a reference to the motto of Colombia "Freedom and Order".
Satirical version of Colombian coat of arms under Regeneration leadership. "Neither Freedom nor Order" mocking the motto of the republic, Freedom and Order. Instead of the Andean Condor of the original coat of arms a vulture. Instead of the cornucopiae, two femur bones. The pomegranate is replaced by a cranium, the Phrygian cap was replaced by a pirate hat and the Isthmus of Panama was replaced by a beast devouring two ships.
