Ancien Mexico

Title

Ancien Mexico

Description

Total view of Mexico city

ca. 1700

Artist

Schley, van der (1715-1779)

Jakob van der Schley (1715 -1779) was a Dutch draughtsman and engraver. He studied under Bernard Picart (1673-1733) whose style he subsequently copied. His main interests were engraving portraits and producing illustrations for "La Vie de Marianne" by Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux (1688-1763), published in The Hague between 1735 and 1747. He also engraved the frontispieces for a 15-volume edition of the complete works of Pierre de Brantôme (1540-1614), "Oeuvres du seigneur de Brantôme", published in The Hague in 1740. Most of the plates in the Hague edition of Prévost's "Histoire générale des voyages" are signed by van der Schley.

Historical Description

Mexico City, is the capital of Mexico and the most populous city in North America. It is located in the Valley of Mexico (Valle de México), a large valley in the high plateaus in the center of Mexico. The city of Mexico-Tenochtitlan was founded by the Mexica people in 1325. The old Mexica city that is now simply referred to as Tenochtitlan was built on an island in the center of the inland lake system of the Valley of Mexico, which it shared with a smaller city-state called Tlatelolco. According to legend, the Mexicas' principal god, Huitzilopochtli, indicated the site where they were to build their home by presenting a golden eagle perched on a prickly pear devouring a rattlesnake. When the Spaniards arrived, the Aztec Empire had reached much of Mesoamerica, touching both the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. The city is the political, economic, social and cultural center as well as the country's largest transportation hub. The name México originally goes back to the Aztecs, who called themselves "Mexica. In German-speaking countries, the English-language designation Mexico City is also sometimes used for "Mexico City". For centuries, this basin has been the center of the country, long before there could be any talk of a Mexican nation. The city is surrounded on three sides by mountains - including the famous twin volcanoesPopocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl and the Sierra Nevada. When the Aztecs arrived in the Valley of Mexico, they found a highly developed hydroponics: Corn, beans, tomatoes, squash and other foods were grown on irrigated land and floating gardens called chinampas. In the 15th century, the Aztecs began to build dikes themselves, which connected the island to the mainland. They also served as aqueducts. According to Aztec records, the founding of the city under the name Tenochtitlan dates back to 1345, when a band of nomads from the north settled on an island in Lake Texcoco. The Aztecs (actually Méxica) settled there after long years of wandering, during which they had subsisted on whatever had been available, voluntarily or involuntarily, in permanent settlements. According to their tradition, they had received the order from their god Huitzilopochtli to found a city at the place where they would find an eagle sitting on a cactus and eating a snake. They found it - on an island in the middle of the lake. Eagle, snake and cactus form the central motif of today's Mexican flag.