Page:Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican, Vol 2.djvu/322





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