Landscape with a Mayan ruin, Mexico

A watercolour by Catherwood from his expedition with John Lloyd Stevens in 1839-40 to explore the monuments and buildings of the little-known Mayan civilisation in Mexico and Guatemala. This is probably a view in the Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico. 'One of the last cities of Old Maya Empire to be erected, Palenque is situated in Chiapas, Mexico -- bordering Guatemala and is situated in the Tumbala Hills. The Maya architects placed it at the end of a deep gorge flanked on three of its sides by towering verdured hills. A little less than one thousand feet above sea level, Palenque is intensely tropical. ... The Palenque was occupied during the seventh and eighth centuries ...' (V.W. von Hagen, Frederick Catherwood Arch., New York, 1950)