Monte Alban by Gordon Nicolson

Monte Alban by Gordon Nicolson

Monte Alban

Gordon Nicolson

Title

Monte Alban

 
Artist
Year
c. 1940  
Technique
vintage gelatin silver print 
Image Size
16 x 19 15/16" image and paper 
Signature
artist's stamp verso 
Edition Size
not stated 
Annotations
ink titled, lower left 
Reference
 
Paper
 
State
 
Publisher
artist 
Inventory ID
19691 
Price
SOLD
Description

From a series of photographs of pre-hispanic ruins by Gordon Nicolson.

Monte Alban is the site of ruins in an ancient center of Zapotec and Mixtec culture, located in what is now Oaxaca state, Mexico. It contains vast plazas, truncated pyramids, a court for playing the ball game "tlachtli," underground passageways, and about 170 tombs, the most elaborate yet uncovered in the Americas. The site is located on high ground for defensibility.

During the first two phases of Monte Alban culture, temples and other structures were built with dressed stone. The influence of the Teotihuacan architectural style is quite evident.