Frederick Catherwood

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Frederick Catherwood about 1840
Stele N in Copán

Frederick Catherwood (born February 27, 1799 , † September 27, 1854 in the North Atlantic when the Arctic sank ) was a British architect, painter, archaeologist and explorer. He caused a sensation with his drawings of rediscovered Mayan ruins. Together with the American John Lloyd Stephens , he laid the foundation stone for the discovery and research of the high civilization of the Maya. Catherwood was elected an honorary member ( Honorary NA ) of the National Academy of Design in New York in 1837 .

Catherwood had studied architecture at Oxford University . But his real passions were painting and traveling. With visits to Greece , Turkey , Egypt and Palestine , he already had extensive travel experience when he met the American lawyer and travel writer John Lloyd Stephens in 1836. He had already made a name for himself with his drawings and paintings of old ruins. Together they read Juan Galindo's story about the ruins of Copán and decided to get an idea for themselves in Central America and write a more detailed report.

From 1839 to 1841, Catherwood and Stephens explored practically the entire Maya area. While Stephens was responsible for the written documentation, Catherwood drew and watercolored the temples , pyramids , ball courts and steles that had been freed from the jungle . The two visited 44 different sites and discovered some new ones, including:

In 1841 Stephens published her discoveries in the book Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan . A second research trip took her to Yucatán , from which Stephen's book Incidents of Travel in Yucatan arose in 1843 . Both books became a worldwide success, not least thanks to Catherwood's precise and atmospheric illustrations. In 1844, Catherwood sparked enthusiasm with his own work Views of Ancient Monuments in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan .

Attracted by the gold rush in California , Catherwood then went to San Francisco , where he opened a shop for the daily needs of miners .

Catherwood was a passenger on the Arctic when it collided with another ship in thick fog on September 27, 1854 off the coast of Newfoundland and sank hours later. He is one of around 350 victims of the disaster.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ nationalacademy.org: Past Academicians "C" / Catherwood, Frederick Honorary 1837 ( Memento of the original from March 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on June 18, 2015)  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nationalacademy.org

literature

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Commons : Frederick Catherwood  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Catherwood, Frederick
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British architect, painter, archaeologist and explorer
DATE OF BIRTH February 27, 1799
DATE OF DEATH September 27, 1854
Place of death North Atlantic at the sinking of the Arctic