
Close-ups
Framed and on the wall
Frame and rooms are illustrations of how the print could look, drawn to its real size; it is sold unframed unless the description says otherwise.
Rites of the World
Old Engraving of Mexican Festivities and Rituals in the Age of Discovery, 1794
Anno Domini MDCCXCIV1794
$205
€180 · £155
Original print, not a reproduction
Ships worldwide from the Netherlands, flat, insured and tracked. 14-day returns. To buy, use Ask a question (info@antiquesacredprints.com) and we will reserve it for you.
- Date
- 1794
- Sheet size
- 8.9 × 9.3 in (22.5 × 23.5 cm)
- Condition
- Good. Good condition. Visible signs of aging such as edge wear, paper browning, and foxing spots (outside the image) are apparent. Most wear and creases around the edges. Thin paper. Please study the image carefully.
- Faith
- Indigenous Americas
- Collection
- Rites of the World
- Era
- 1700 to 1799, Mortier, Picart and the illustrated Bible
- Stock no.
- f_38014382
The Rejoicings of the Mexicans at the beginning of the Age, an original copper engraving from Portlock's New Collection of Voyages and Travels, published in London in 1794 by Alex. Hogg at the King's Arms, No. 16 Paternoster Row. The caption beneath the image reads "The Rejoicings of the Mexicans, at the beginning of the Age."
Dancers fill the foreground in a loose circle: men in plumed headdresses and loincloths, and at the center a woman in a feathered skirt who is led by the hand. At the left two drummers kneel beside an upright drum, one of them holding curved sticks. At the right a stepped pyramid with a domed shrine rises beside the dancers, and a smaller group dances on a terrace in the background beneath a palm tree, with the sea beyond.
The subject refers to the Aztec ceremony marking the start of a new cycle of years, a favorite scene for European illustrators who knew Mexico only through the written accounts of the conquest.
Explore












