Uxmal: Casa de la Monjas

Inscriptions

Inscribed, on reverse, in graphite: Uxmal / Las Monjas / #13; inscribed, on mat, in graphite, lower left: UXMAL: CASA.DE.LAS.MONJAS. / #41

Label

After graduating from Dartmouth in 1875, Charles Alonzo Rich painted these detailed watercolor sketches of Maya monuments while traveling in Mexico and Central America. Their precision demonstrates his architectural training, but the painterly application of watercolors, inclusion of small figures populating the ruins, and written annotations add a sense of liveliness to the scenes. Travelers, scholars, archaeologists, and businessmen all enjoyed new access to the region after the Spanish American wars of independence (1808–33).

Architect and Dartmouth alum Charles Alonzo Rich is responsible for many aspects of how we experience the Dartmouth campus today. He designed the new Dartmouth Hall and the quadrangle at the center of campus that would become the Green, as well as Butterfield Hall, the first purpose-built museum on campus.

From the 2025 exhibition, From Mastodon to Mosaic: Building an Academic Art Collection in America, curated by Ashley B. Offill, Curator of Collections

Exhibition History

From Mastadon to Mosaic, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, June 14, 2025 - Fall 2026

Provenance

The artist (1854-1943); to his daughter, Margaret Bradbury Rich Sage (1888-1985); given to present collection, 1961.

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Subjects