Calendar Art and Mexico's National Identity ; Feathered Aztecs, Eagles on Cactuses, and Hacienda Scenes Are Passe; Fast Cars, Scantily Clad Women, and First-World Cities Are In

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With the New Year comes calendar-shopping in Mexico City, and Esther Flores Gutierrez has just picked up the one she wants.

It's a reprint of a famous 1940 calendar depicting the legend of Mexico City's two best-known volcanoes, Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl. In the familiar scene by popular Mexican artist Jose de la Helguera, the volcanoes are represented by two tragic Aztec lovers at their Romeo-and-Juliet denouement.

"This is the kind of calendar you used to find in every Mexican home you entered," says Mrs. Flores, at a sidewalk stand in Mexico City's old downtown. "When my ... grandson said he would like a calendar with the legend of the volcanoes, …