Graphic and Photographic Documentation - Reed College

is to determine the degree of analogy that the art of Uxmal is going to present to that
of Palenque and Tonina” (p. 148).
Baudex accurately notes that (in translation), “The merit of the book resides in the
lithographs”, but his statement that “The text on the other hand is deceiving and does
not distinguish itself from the notes and journals that Waldeck had not intended for
publication” (p. 158) minimizes the importance of some of those observations.
Baudez’s justifiable admiration for Waldeck sometimes distorts his account. For
example, in his caption to the Waldeck’s famous reconstruction drawing of a classicaltype
standing male nude on the façade of Temple 5 of the Pyramid of the Magician,
Baudez writes (in translation): “The colossal statues are considered by most
Mayanists as the invention of the artist” adding that “fragments of the colossal statues
have been since recovered in the zone of Uxmal” (caption to fig. 26, p.150). Although
not explicitly stated, Baudez’s wording clearly implies that these fragments vindicated
Waldeck’s reconstruction. In fact, no fragments found anywhere at Uxmal lend any
support to Waldeck’s imaginary drawing. No sculpture of any standing figure in Maya
art stands naturalistically, touching the back wall at only buttocks and shoulders, as in
Waldeck’s profile drawing.
Includes 34 color plates and 31 grey-scale figures, all of good quality. There is an
important 2-page bibliography, with separate listings for publications by Waldeck and
the locations for his manuscripts and drawings. Chapter 3 on the Yucatan includes
only 2 pages on Uxmal and 1 illustration from Waldeck’s landmark volume (pp. 148-
149 and fig. 26). Arches at Kabah, Uxmal, and Labna, are included in a drawing
comparing 8 Maya arches (fig. 29).
Benavidas Castillo, Antonio
“Teobert Maler”. La antropología en México: Panorama histórico. 10.Los protagonistas
(Diaz-Murillo), 469-476. Ed. Lina Odena Güemes and Carlos García Mora. Mexico
City, D.F.: Colección Biblioteca del INAH; Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia,
1987.
A 5-page review of the life and work of Teobert Maler (1842-1917). There is a useful. 4page
bibliography
Bonaccorsi-Hild, Doris
Teobert Maler: Soldat, Abenteurer, Gelehrter aud den Spuren der Maya. Wien: Ibera
Verlag, 2001.
An excellent 245-page biography on Maler, the best overall introduction to his life.
Written clearly for a general readership, the book includes details from archives and
from conversations with a few of those still living who remember him. There are a few
references to Uxmal, Kabah, Sayil and Labná.
4