Ricardo Almendáriz Explained
Ricardo Almendáriz was a draftsman from New Spain who accompanied Antonio del Río to the first excavation of pre-Columbian Maya ruins at Palenque in Chiapas, Mexico.[1] Undertaken in May and June 1787, the expedition was performed under orders from Charles III of Spain, to investigate reports about the ruins from the inhabitants of the neighboring pueblo of Santo Domingo de Palenque. The team spent two weeks digging at the location, followed by three weeks studying the site.[2]
Almendáriz made thirty drawings of the bas relief sculptures at the Palenque ruins. These drawings were intended to accompany del Río's written report, which was dated June 24, 1787. According to George Stuart, writing for the Kislak Foundation, the del Río report "ranks as the first substantial archaeological report known in the Americas."[3] Almendáriz's drawings of Palenque are "remarkably accurate for the era" and depict features of Palenque that have since been destroyed from exposure. For this reason they remain scientifically useful.[3]
The Almendáriz drawings were copied for archival purposes.[3] The most complete set of contemporary copies belongs to the library of the Royal Palace in Madrid.[3]
References
- García Sáiz, María Concepción . 1994 . Antonio del Río y Guillermo Dupaix: el reconocimiento de una deuda histórica. PDF online reproduction, Universidad de La Rioja . . Madrid . Museo de América, Ministerio de Cultura . 2. 99–119 . 1133-8741 . 445101005. es.
- Book: Río, Antonio del . Antonio del Río . 1822 . 1786 . Description of the Ruins of an Ancient City, discovered near Palenque, in the Kingdom of Guatemala, in Spanish America: Translated from the original manuscript report of captain Don Antonio del Río: Followed by Teatro Crítico Americano; or, A critical investigation and research into The History of the Americans . Paul Felix Cabrera (trans. and ed.) . Online reproduction at OliverCowdery.com . . London . 55254809.
- Book: Stuart, George . 2007 . 492. Almendáriz, Ricardo, fl. ca. 1787 . http://www.kislakfoundation.org/pdf/Catalog_09.pdf . PDF online reproduction . The Jay I. Kislak Collection at the Library of Congress: a catalog of the gift of the Jay I. Kislak Foundation to the Library of Congress . Arthur Dunkelman . With essays by Ralph E. Ehrenberg, Norman Fiering, John Lombardi, Jerald T. Milanich, Robert J. Sharer, and George E. Stuart . Washington, DC . . 154–156. 978-0-8444-1180-4 . 177817935.
External links
Notes and References
- Stuart 2007: 154
- Web site: Eighteenth-Century Drawings of Palenque. 12 December 2007 . Library of Congress. 2009-11-05.
- Stuart 2007: 156