CHAPTER VII.
ANCIENT REMAINS IN THE STATE OF MEXICO.
ANTIQUITIES IN THE MUSEUM—STATUE OF CHARLES IV.—CONDITION OF THE MUSEUM—FEATHERED SERPENTS—VICEROY'S PORTRAITS—CORTÉZ—PORTRAIT—ARMOR—PEDRO DE ALVARADO—IMAGES—VASES—TEZCOCO—PALACE—TROUGH—MASSIVE MOUNDS—TESCOCINGO—HILL—ITS ANCIENT ADORNMENTS—ANCIENT BELLEVUE AND RESERVOIR—TEZCOCAN SPLENDOR—BOSQUE DEL CONTADOR—PONDS—LAKES—ARBORS—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
proof is given, in this statue of the genius possessed by the natives for the imitative arts. It was the work of Tolsa, and was first opened to public view on its pedestal in the plaza, in the year 1803, under the viceroyal government of Iturrigaray.
In a corner of this court yard, on the left of the portal, amid a quantity of ancient lumber and relics, are the sacrificial stone and the gigantic idol statue of Teoyaomiqui, described in the first volume of this work. Here, too, are the huge serpent images, carved from basalt, which are presumed to have been used in the worship of Quetzalcoatl—the "feathered serpent,"—the "god of the air."