CHAPTER VII. 

 ANCIENT REMAINS IN THE STATE OF MEXICO. 



ANTIQUITIES IN THE MUSUEM STATUE OF CHARLES IV. CON- 

 DITION OF THE MUSEUM FEATHERED SERPENTS VICEROY'S 



PORTRAITS CORTEZ PORTRAIT ARMOR PEDRO DE ALVA- 



RADO IMAGES VASES TEZCOCO PALACE TBOUGH 



MASSIVE MOUNDS TESCOCINGO HILL ITS ANCIENT ADORN- 

 MENTS ANCIENT BELLEVUE AND RESERVOIR TEZCOCAN 



SPLENDOR BOSQUE DEL CONTADOR PONDS LAKES AR- 

 BORS PYRAMIDS OF TEOTIHUACAN HOUSES OF SUN AND 



MOON PATH OF THE DEAD CARVED PILLAR PILLAR AT 



OTUMBA PYRAMID OF XOCHICALCO HILL OF XOCHICALCO 



— ITS STRUCTURES. 



The largest collection of the moveable antiquities of Mexico, 

 belonging to the Aztec and probably to the Toltec period of the 

 occupation of the valley or adjacent country, is found in the Museum 

 which occupies two or three rooms and part of the court yard of the 

 University building. In the centre of the quadrangle around which 

 this edifice is erected is the fine bronze statue of Charles IV., cast 

 in the capital by a native Mexican. It is an admirable work, and 

 before the revolution stood in front of the cathedral in the plaza or 

 great square. The Spanish sovereign is habited in an antique 

 Roman dress, and is seated on horseback. His right hand, holding 

 a baton, is stretched forward, in an attitude of command and the 

 folds of a massive robe fall gracefully from his neck, over the hind 

 limbs of his horse. His brow is bound with a laurel wreath, and a 

 Roman blade rests on his thigh, whilst the animal is represented in 

 the act of advancing slowly and treading on a quiver of arrows. 



This statue is, of course, liable to some just criticism, founded on 

 the bad models for horses which the artist had recourse to in 

 Mexico whilst engaged in his task ; and although a due degree of 

 strict adherence to historical portraiture did not permit him to 

 exalt too much the personal characteristics of the king, he has 

 nevertheless contrived to infuse a great deal of power into the statue 

 so as to entitle it to a fair comparison with some of the best European 

 equestrian works in bronze. All the minor parts of the figures and 

 their decorations are finished with the utmost neatness, and another 



