Rosario Nava has focused on studying the black color as a symbol of power in the Mesoamerican world. Her analysis has scoped the uses and functions of this color in body painting, as well in pre-Hispanic and colonial codices in Mexico. She has also specialized in studying the functions of the living image (ixptla), focusing mainly on the study of the human body as a medium to visualize this type of image. Her academic interests have also concentrated on the analysis of the permanence, transformation and dialogue established between the indigenous and European visual traditions. Rosario Nava has a Bachelor's degree in Sociology and a Master's degree in Art History. In 2018 she obtained a PhD in Art History, all from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). She is currently professor at the Escuela Nacional de Pintura y Escultura (Esmeralda/IMBA), and is part of the Interdisciplinary Seminar of the Conquest (www.noticonquista.unam.mx), a web based initiative to document public reflection and historical debates about the conquest of Mexico, Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas (UNAM).
