H9 
many ages ? A Mexican sculptor might have 
iaithfully copied the image of an Apostle no 
doubt ; but in a country where, as in Hindostan 
and China, the natives adhered with the greatest 
perseverance to the manners, habits, and arts, of 
their ancestors, would he have dared to repre- 
sent a hero, or a Mexican divinity, under a new 
and foreign form ? Besides, the historical pic- 
tures of the Mexican painters after the arrival 
of the Spaniards, several of which are found in 
the remains of the collection of Boturini at 
Mexico, evidently prove, that this influence of 
the European arts on the taste of the American 
nations, and on the correctness of their drawings, 
was extremely slow. 
I thought it indispensable to state the doubts, 
that might be suggested respecting the origin of 
the relief of Oaxaca, which I have had engraved 
at Rome after the sketch that was communi- 
cated to me ; but I am far from giving any 
decided opinion on so extraordinary a monu- 
ment, which I had no opportunity of examining 
myself. The architecture of the palace of 
Mitla, the elegance of the Grecques and laby- 
rinths, which decorate the walls, are proofs, 
that the civilization of the Zapoteck nations was 
superior to that of the inhabitants of the valley 
of Mexico. We may therefore be less sur- 
prised, that the relief in question should have 
been found at Oaxaca, the ancient Huaxyacac, 
von. XIII. K 
