Detail View: JCB Archive of Early American Images: A View of the Great Temple of Mexico.
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Accession number:
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34575
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Record number:
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34575-5
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JCB call number:
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D778 R968h / 1-SIZE
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Image title:
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A View of the Great Temple of Mexico.
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Creator 1:
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John Lodge
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Creator 1 dates:
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d. 1796
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Creator 1 role:
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sculp.
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Place image published:
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[London]
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Image publisher:
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[Fielding & Walker]
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Image date:
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[1778]
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Image function:
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plate; vol. 1, following p. 144
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Technique:
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engraving
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Image dimension height:
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14.5 cm.
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Image dimension width:
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19.9 cm.
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Page dimension height:
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25.9 cm.
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Page dimension width:
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19.7 cm.
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Materials medium:
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ink
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Materials support:
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paper
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Languages:
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English
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Description:
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Bird's-eye view of the main temple [the Templo mayor] of Mexico City. The temple is encircled by a wall with serpents or snakes carved on it and two sanctuaries on the top before which priests sacrifice a victim. A body is tossed down the stairs. Dancers celebrate before the temple within the wall. In foreground is a skull rack or tzompantli and native Americans with bows and arrows wearing feathered headdresses and garments.
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Source creator:
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Russell, William, 1741-1793
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Source Title:
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The history of America, from its discovery by Columbus ... Volume I.
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Source place of publication:
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London
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Source publisher:
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Printed for Fielding and Walker, no. 20, Pater-noster-Row
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Source date:
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MDCCLXXVIII. [1778]
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notes:
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The great temple at Tenochtitlan was surmounted by two sanctuaries--the one on the left dedicated to Tlaloc, the one on the right to Huitzilopochtli. Huitzilopochtli, whose name means "Blue hummingbird on the left," was the Aztec god of the sun and war. The turquoise or fire serpent (xiuhcoatl) was his mystical weapon. Tlaloc, the god of rain and agriculture, was of pre-Aztec, or Toltec, origin. A coatepantli or wall made of sculpted serpents often surrounds Aztec temples. The tzompantli would hold the skulls of sacrificial victims. This image is similar to the one printed in Antonio de Solís, Histoire de la conquête du Mexique, Paris, 1691. Image placed horizontally on page.
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Time Period:
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1751-1800
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Provenance/Donor:
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Acquired before 1874.
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Owner and copyright:
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©John Carter Brown Library, Box 1894, Brown University, Providence, R.I. 02912
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geographic area:
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Spanish America
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Subject Area:
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Artifacts, industry, and human activities
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Subject Area:
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Geography, maps, city views and plans
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Subject headings:
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Aztecs--Religion
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Subject headings:
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Mexico City (Mexico)--Description and travel
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