Mesoamerican Archaeology in Carl Nebel's Work

THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN blazed through Hamburg for three days in 1787 and which had been salvaged from de- WAR ILLusTRATED May 1842, destroying almost halfthe port. cades of oblivion and published for the first In 1847, everyday life in Mexico was torn There, Carl Nebel worked on his final time in London in 1822. Wardens thrilling asunder by the Mexican-American War. In project between 1848 and 1850, traveling description of a city eight leagues long and early 1848, after witnessing some of the constantly to Paris to meet with Kendall. It possessing extremely advanced arts that had gravest tribulations of war in the capital, was printed by the same press that had done been swallowed up by the jungle had such Nebel decided to leave the country. Based his first album. Nebel's fear of cholera-an an impact on the members of the Society on accounts by U.S. correspondent George epidemic that swept Europe in 1850-kept that they unanimously decided to translate Wilkins Kendall, editor of the New Orleans him from doing much traveling. This was a Del Río's lecture into French and publish it. Picayune, Nebel was apparently still in cause of exasperation for the U.S. reporter, A few months later, they announced a con- Mexico City on November 22, 1847. Colo- who would have preferred to see the printing test to see who could elaborate the "most nel Iarnes E. Duncan had written to Kend- of the album move along more swiftly. But complete and precise" description of the all saying hed seen Nebel sketching in the the final product was well worth the wait. The mysterious Mayan capital. street that day. U.S. press sang the book's praises from the The announcement in the Society's cel- By that time, Kendall had presumably outset. In an editorial, the Boston Atlas said ebrated Bulletin-a periodical which would hired Nebel to illustrate his writings, with that, "Never has any battle on the face of this later become Iules Verne's chief source of in- the two agreeing to split the earnings equally. earth been so well illustrated," In December spiration-promised to award a gold medal The collaboration resulted in a second album, 1850, the New York Herald asserted that, "the worth 2400 francs to the person who man- entitled The War between the United States faithfulness of the landscapes and of every aged to make his way through the jungle to and Mexico Illustrated. Published simultane- point where the battles took place can only the lost city and render picturesque scenes of ously in New York and Philadelphia in 1851, be recognized and appreciated by top experts the Palenque monuments, inc\uding plans the album featured twelve plates. Kendall in the field" To be sure, the album fed the and cross-sections, together with detailed had played a key role in the artistic aspect of American hunger for a triumphant vision of drawings of the most exceptional sculptures. the project, apparently providing Nebel with history, which to a great extent explains the Participants were to excavate basements detailed descriptions of certain regions, such publication's popularity. As for the aesthetic and aqueducts; find out about the people as northern Mexico, where the American quality of the images, Nebel had done afine who had built the cíty, especially their cus- journalist had spent most of the war working job, so it was up to Kendall to launch the ad- toms and language; map out the boundaries amid the occupying troops. vertising blitz. The German artist apparently of the ruined city, adding geographical and Kendall was thus able to provide Nebel intended to produce another album on the economic observations; and gather infor- with visual references for his illustrations. same subject, judging from the watercolors mation about the god Votan, who was "com- Many authors have wondered how Nebel that were not inc\uded in the first edition. parable to Buddha and Odin" In addition, was able depict places he had never visited Unfortunately this sequel was never pub- they were also supposed to survey Yucatan with such precision. They overlook the fact lished, and the originals from the war album, and Guatemala, particularly around Mérida that there was plenty of pictorial material be- as well as other works that were not inc\uded, and Maní, as well as El Petén, Utatlán and ing printed in newspapers, magazines, books appear to have been irrevocably lost. Copán, because word had reached the Soci- and albums-both Mexican and Ameri- German and Mexican sources concur ety that the archaeological ruins there were can-which he could have referred to. Ad- that Carl Nebel died in Paris on Iune 4,1855, connected to those of Palenque. In order to vances in graphic techniques such as lithog- though the French press of the time com- qualify for the prize, contestants had to turn raphy-which had become popular in the pletely ignored the fact, making no mention their results in to the Society's headquarters U.S. around 1820-had precipitated a boom of his passing in any newspaper. by Ianuary 1, 1830. in illustrated periodicals in that country. Translated by Daniel C. Schechter. Such goals must have seemed overly At that time, newspapers were being ambitious or even impossible to most of established specifically for a middle-class ITINERARY OF STONE the Bulletin's readers, especially if they had readership. These widely circulated dailies taken one of the earliest entrants at his word were dubbed the "penny press" ówing to MESOAMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY when he told them that the explorers of the their low cover price. The same thing was IN CARL ~L'S WORK "American Palmira" would be facing storms, going on in other Protestant countries like North winds, serpents, rattlesnakes, giant England, where Bible study had resulted in bats, tigers, lions, cannibals from the Lacan- widespread literacy. The war only accentu- Leonardo López Luján dón jungle, and worse still, the fearsome ated the desire to read current news, com- For Marie-France Fauvet-Berthelot Mexicans, who were "uncivilized, envious plemented by images. and untrusting," The journey offered such There is no record of their arrival, but n December 6, 1825, a group of men terrifying prospects that this rornantic call it may be assumed that Nebel and his wife Oassembled at the headquarters of the for submissions was met with a very poor returned to Europe in 1848, possibly in the París Geographical Society to listen to David response-both in quantity and in quality- early months of the year. They likely went Baillie Warden lecture on the Description o/ and the c\osing date for the con test had to to Hamburg first so the artist could be re- the Ruins o/an Ancient City: Discovered Near be deferred two years. united with his family. The city they found Palenque, a report that Capitan Antonio del With the extended period of time and would not have been the same: a fire had RÍo had submitted to the king of Spain in wider circulation of the con test rules, the situation changed radically. Many more ad- ture in stone, though he could not resist venturers declared their intention to partici- including a few lesser objects in ceramic pate, including Francois Corroy, director of or wood. The brief texts that accompany the military hospital at Villaherrnosa, along the plates-which were only meant for the with his son and nephew; Abbot Henri reader's "amusernent" - reflect the thoughts Baradere, the multitalented lean -Frédéric and concerns of an architect who made a Waldeck; the ill-fated Ludwig Choris; the close study of materials and structural sys- painter Iohann Moritz Rugendas; and Juan tems in order to speculate on the original Galindo, superior officer of the Republic of dímensíons, forrn, proportions and func- Central America. It was not long before an- tions of different monuments. We sense other name was added to the list: that of Carl a common thread running through all Nebel, a talented German barely twenty-five these texts, which is the author's frank years old, with studies in architecture and admiration for the beauty of these ar- apparently in engineering as well. Through chaeological rernains, in c1ear contrast the agency of the French general consul in with the ever unappreciative Alexander von Mexico, Adrien Cochelet, this young man Humboldt, who considered pre- Hispanic appealed to the Geographical Society to al- art to be utterly lacking in aesthetic value low him to make the journey to Palenque. because it was produced by barbarian peo- But perhaps because he had also requested pies. But Nebel viewed these monuments financial aid, his application was kindly de- as the handiwork of what he considered to clined in mid-1830. Even so, Nebel refused be a civilization in every sense of the word, to admit defeat, as demonstrated by a sec- even comparing them to the paved roads, ond letter that Cochelet sent to the Society the Coliseum and other features of ancient near the end of the same year, which stated Rome that he had seen during a trip to Italy XipeTotec. that the German planned to pay for the trip prior to coming to Mexico. Plate 48, Voyage pittoresque ... out ofhis own pocket, and would attempt to It would be reasonable to assume that Ne- make it as far as Guatemala. Enclosed with bel's first significant contact with Mesoameri- sundial and a device to mark equinoctial, sol- the letter was a copy of Nebel's ambitious can culture took place in Mexico Citys central sticial and zenithal passages.

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