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This
image depicts the inside of the Temple of the Sun at Palenque,
originally named for an interior tablet that appeared to honor
the sun. However, archeologists have since found that the tablet
features jaguar and royal imagery. Despite its apparent decay
in Catherwood’s drawing, today’s scholars refer to
the temple as “the most perfect of all Maya buildings.”
The
series of archways highlighted by the middle corbelled arch is
a prime example of classic Maya architecture. Although in an evident
state of disrepair, Catherwood makes the temple’s careful
construction the focus of the image. The indigenous guide sits
on the floor of the stone temple and looks admiringly at the ruin.
The viewer is compelled to follow his gaze through the archways
and finally to the jungle beyond. [Spanish
version].
KATE O’CONNOR-MORRIS and AYLA SCHLOSSER |
