The Pyramid, Uxmal Ruins
Description:
A single large pyramid stands covered in vegetation, crowned by a small, exposed temple. The pyramid is surrounded by a variety of trees and bushes, and is fronted by a small clearing. Two men stand in the center foreground, one gazing up at the pyramid while the other kneels beside him.
Copyright:
Copyright 2009, Memorial Library, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Accession Number:
G95Y9.N84
Height (in centimeters):
18
Width (in centimeters):
11
Printing Context
Benjamin Moore Norman’s illustrations of Uxmal were never reproduced outside the context of Rambles in Yucatan (1843), and to this day he remains more famous for his work on the history of New Orleans. This was true even in the 1840s: Rambles in Yucatan only saw one published edition (done by Norman himself), and it never garnered the popularity attained by the work of Stephens and Catherwood (published at the same time).Associated Events
Benjamin Moore Norman's Expedition to the YucatánAssociated Places
UxmalAssociated Texts
Norman published a series of lithographs in Rambles in Yucatan (1843) depicting either buildings or artifacts from Uxmal, among them The Pyramid, Uxmal Ruins, and Moonlight, Uxmal Ruins, the book’s frontispiece (Norman 154-65). In the book, Norman specifically mentions Catherwood and Stephens’s expedition as the inspiration for his own journey to Uxmal. Catherwood’s illustrations of Uxmal can be seen as directly influencing Norman’s depictions; while all of Catherwood’s Uxmal drawings are reproduced in Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan (1841), eight of the twenty-five color lithographs that make up his Views of Ancient Monuments in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan (1844) were of Uxmal (Plates VIII-XV, in order): General View of Las Monjas, at Uxmal; Ornament Over the Principal Doorway, House of the Governor, at Uxmal; Archway, House of the Governor, Uxmal; Gateway of the Great Teocallis, Uxmal; Ornament over the Gateway of the Great Teocallis, Uxmal; General View of Uxmal, Taken from the Archway of Las Monjas, Looking South; Portion of the Building Las Monjas, Uxmal; and Portion of the House of Las Monjas, Uxmal (Stephens 2: 421-35).Subject
This lithograph depicts a portion of the ruins of Uxmal.Significance
Taken five years after the same site was documented by Stephens and Catherwood, Norman’s renderings of Uxmal show a markedly different concern: he adopts the ideals of the picturesque landscape, and seems most interested in the effect of the ruins on the viewer. Furthermore, Norman’s images of Uxmal, as well as of other sites, are the first Romantic images of Mexico and Central America produced by an American for publication in the United States.Function
Norman’s images of Uxmal are less concerned with producing a scientific record of the site than with conveying a sense of the emotional and sensuous impact given by the experience of a place. They stand in opposition to his text, which is a point-by-point record of the buildings at the site. Consequently, we can see Norman's renderings of Uxmal as visual manifestations of his interest in sublime experience.Bibliography
Drake, Francis S. “Norman, Benjamin Moore.” Dictionary of American Biography Including Men of the Time; Containing Nearly Ten Thousand Notices of Persons ... Who Have Been Remarkable, or Prominently Connected with the Arts, Sciences, Literature, Politics, or History, of the American Continent. Boston: Houghton, 1879. Print.Long Title
Rambles in Yucatan: Including a Visit to the Remarkable Ruins of Chi-Chen, Kabah, Zayi, Uxmal, &c.Featured in Exhibit:
From the Collection:
Engraver:
Delineator:
Image Date:
1843
Publisher:
J. & H.G. Langley
