HEWERS OF STONE 



1019 



monize with the other portions of the 

 walls. 



e:xouisite carvings 



What impressed me as most remark- 

 ' able was the skill with which they carved 

 the design into the heavy stone lintel^. 

 There was an exactness and finish in de- 

 tails such, as we would expect from stone 

 masons with iron hammers and chisels of 

 steel instead of the primitive stone tools. 

 As I reflected upon this fact the question 

 forced itself upon me, Why did they not 

 build or face the walls entirely of large 

 dressed stones and then carve the entire 

 surface with the same grecque design, 

 and which in part they were compelled 

 to do in the treatment of the lintel? It 

 is true the efifect would not have been 

 as pronounced as the bold relief appear- 

 ance which was obtained by the countless 

 pieces that made up the mosaic fretwork. 

 It might have involved even greater labor 

 to have cut and transported the large 

 blocks of stone from the mountain and 

 carved out the design by means of stone 

 tools, for they had to sculpture as many 

 as 50 lintels, and they had no doubt 

 learned from experience the wisdom of 

 building just as they did. 



To appreciate the prodigious labor in- 

 volved, one need but estimate the number 

 of thin brick-shaped stones employed in 

 the mosaic work of the quadrangle of 

 grecques alone, for they exceed 50,000. 

 The various buildings grouped about it 

 would have contained as many as 130,000, 

 and it has been estimated that probably 

 one million of these were used in the 

 mural ornamentation of all the buildings 

 at Mitla. The patience of the workmen 

 must often have been tried when the 

 almost finished bit was broken by a blow 

 of the pick. 



Father Burgoa, .who saw these build- 

 ings at the time of the Spanish conquest, 

 and when they were in far better preser- 



vation than today, has left us an inter- 

 esting and valuable description, although 

 not strictly accurate in every particular. 

 He says, among other things, that ''the 

 palace of the living and the dead was 

 built for the use of this one (high priest 

 of the Zapotecs). They built this mag- 

 nificent house or pantheon in the shape 

 of a rectangle, with portions rising above 

 the earth and portions built down into 

 the earth." Referring to the stone col- 

 umns, he states that they "are wonder- 

 fully regular and smooth. These served 

 to support the roof, which consists of 

 stone slabs instead of beams. But in the 

 construction of the walls the greatest 

 architects of the earth have been sur- 

 passed." 



The Zapotecans also displayed wonder- 

 ful skill in the art of painting, and, while 

 unfortunately nearly all of it has been 

 destroyed, yet in the examples that re- 

 main we recognize a mastery in painting 

 that is as great a surprise as their mosaic 

 fretwork. It is remarkable how perfect 

 the colors remain to this day, after hav- 

 ing been exposed to the elements for 

 many centuries, the surface being still as 

 smooth as polished marble. Although 

 the figures are grotesque, according to 

 their conception of the story which they 

 intended to illustrate, nevertheless the 

 surpassing coloring, the finished detail, 

 and the general artistic effect show the 

 presence of a master of the art. 



There arises another question : Whv 

 did they not leave some sculptured fig- 

 ures? With such a mastery in the art of 

 painting, and with the evidence of their 

 skill in carrying out the grecque designs 

 in the stone lintels, there can be no rea- 

 sonable doubt as to their ability to sculp- 

 ture statues of their heroes and gods ; 

 but for some reason they do not seem 

 to have added this art to the ornamenta- 

 tions of their wonderful buildings at 

 Mitla. 



