Maya civilization in architecture: Examples of drawings, graphic prints and early photography (XVIII - XIX century)

Abstract

The aim of this text is to explore the ancient Mayan civilization, preserved examples of drawings, graphics, photography and architecture dating between the eighteenth and the nineteenth century. Methodological instruments were developed to follow a vertical chronology extending from the beginnings of research and artistic presentation of the ancient Maya civilization in the work of European artists. A cross reference is made of the researched objects of study and art attachments are systemized to allow tracking of historical circumstances that have initiated certain expeditions, the conditions and the expertise of those who participated in them, as well as the contributions they made to the understanding of the Mayan architecture. Also, the context of European culture has been taken into account as well as the view of architecture as a civilization and artistic achievement of the ancient Maya. Visual presentation of the ancient Maya civilization began with the earliest research expeditions. Although initially amateur, they still managed to build a certain degree of visual culture, which was the foundation of subsequent research. Taking into account the artistic context of architecture, but also the fact that the European scientific circles in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, in the field of social and humanistic disciplines, have a distinctive Euro- centric character, it seems justified to emphasize the importance and the scope of the contact between the two ancient civilizations, the European on the one hand, and the Meridian civilizations of the New World, on the other hand.