Templo de Adevino - Uxmal

 

Gordon Nicolson

  1891 - 1975 (biography)

c. 1950  

vintage gelatin silver print 

19 3/4 x 15 7/8" image and paper 

artist's stamp verso 

not stated 

ink titled, lower left, recto; stamped on verso: "All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction / and No Cropping Permitted without / Permission in Writing / Gordon Nicolson." 

 

 

 

artist 

19722 

$600.00 

From a series of photographs of pre-Columbian ruins by Gordon Nicolson. Uxmal is an ancient Maya city of the classical period in present-day Mexico. The name Uxmal means "built three times" in Mayan, referring to the construction of its highest structure, the Pyramid of the Magician (Templo de Adivino). The Mayans would often build a new temple over an existing one. Uxmal was one of the largest cities of the Yucatan peninsula, and at its height about 25,000 Mayans resided there. There are indications that its rulers also presided over the nearby settlements in Kabah, Labna and Sayil.

Uxmal is located in the Puuc region and is considered one of the Maya cities most representative of the region's dominant architectural style. Puuc architecture has several predominant features, most notably constructions with a plain lower section and a richly decorated upper section.

The Pyramid of the Magician, also known as Templo de Adivino, stands 117 feet high. Unusually built on an elliptical base, this pyramid is the result of five superimposed temples. Parts of the first temple can be seen when ascending the western staircase (as the two figures are seen doing here); the second and third are accessed by the eastern staircase, in an inner chamber at the second level.