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On
January 8, 1841, Catherwood depicted the Maya city of Kabáh
in the Yucatán peninsula south of Uxmal. To the left, the
white Arch of Kabáh is seen buried in the trees, marking
the entrance to the city. The large mound next to it is a pyramid
overgrown with vegetation. This scene portrays indigenous workers
hauling doorjambs down a sak beh (Maya for "white way”),
a road connecting Kabáh to the sites of Uxmal and Nohpat.
Overseeing the laborers is a man in a blue shirt who may be John
Stephens. In the background are three buildings decorated with
Puuc-design, a common Maya architectural style in Kabáh.
Catherwood's
motif of light and dark suggests the contrast between the elegance
of the distant city and the rigorous labor experienced by the
workers in the foreground. The darkness expresses a mood of drudgery,
unlike the mystery represented by darkness in other Catherwood
lithographs on display, such as plates 4, 5, 17 and 25. Yet the
mood of the image is also romantic, as Catherwood emphasizes the
spiritual nature of the clouds. [Spanish
version].
IVONNE
GARCÍA and ALEXANDRA VALERIO |
