Totonaca Mural Paintings Restored: Salts that Blocked Visibility were Removed

MEXICO CITY.- After 3 years of restoration, the 30 meters long mural painting at El Tajin Archaeological Zone, in Veracruz, nearly 1000 years old, recovered their colors and iconography to be enjoyed by the general public. The mural paintings were created by the ancient Totonaca groups between 800 and 1200 AD in Building 1 at the area known as Tajin Chico, in the archaeological site. The murals presented deterioration and crumbles produced by salts and were painted on floors, walls, [...]

Mexican Authorities Recover 144 Original Pre-Columbian Pieces and Colonial Religious Works

MEXICO CITY.- The largest recovery of cultural property that had been illegally removed from churches and archaeological sites in the country, some for the last nine years, was unveiled today by officials of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH-Conaculta) and the Attorney General the Republic (PGR). These are 14 colonial religious art works and 144 original pre-Columbian pieces, plus another 36 that are false. A selection of cultural artifacts rescued was presented to the media at the National [...]

Colonial Painting Found in Palacio de Bellas Artes Restored

MEXICO CITY.- Specialists of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) restored 40 square meters of a 17th century mural painting discovered in the subsoil of Palacio de Bellas Artes, in Mexico City, during reconditioning work conducted at the building. Fragments of mural painting were located on the rests of a wall of the former convent of Visitacion de Maria Santisima, which existed until mid-19th century in the terrain occupied to present by the Palacio de Bellas Artes. A [...]

Mexican Archaeologists will Return to Egypt

MEXICO CITY.- After 5 years of uninterrupted archaeological, restoration and iconographic interpretation work, the Mexican delegation in charge of conservation at the Theban Tomb 39, in Egypt, will begin the 6th field season in September 2010. The goal is to open the site to public in 2013. Exploration at the Theban Tomb 39 continues to the exterior of it, since work at the interior is concluded, informed Dr. Angelina Macias Goytia, researcher at the National Institute of Anthropology and History [...]

Giant Maya Figureheads to be Restored

MEXICO CITY.- Six giant figureheads at Chakanbakan Archaeological Zone, Quintana Roo, considered the greatest and among the earliest in the area, will be restored by specialists of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). Created more than 2,300 years ago, these sculptures remind the Olmeca style, which represented deities with jaguar faces, revealing the adoption by Maya of elements from earliest cultures. Intervention to figureheads made out of stucco, clay and stone is coordinated by Gerardo Calderon and conducted [...]

Restoration of Mural in Tlatelolco Uses Nanotechnology

MEXICO CITY.- Specialists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have been successfully applied different treatments to stabilize the mural painting at the water tank at Santa Cruz de Santiago de Tlatelolco Imperial College, among them, the use of calcium hydroxide nanoparticles, technique that allows retiring salts produced by humidity. Considered a unique vestige that reveals the fusion of European and Prehispanic pictorial techniques during early New Spain age, this mural, discovered in 2002 in Mexico City, represents [...]

Six Potential Heirs DNA Tested in Caravaggio Death Hunt

CARAVAGGIO.- Six possible descendants of Baroque artist Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio, have been DNA-tested in the hopes they can help unveil the mystery surrounding the painter’s death. The cause of death in 1610 and the whereabouts of the corpse have always been unclear but a team of Italian anthropologists believe that what is left of Caravaggio’s body may be hidden among dozens of bodies buried in a crypt in Tuscany. For months, the team — from the departments of [...]

DNA Tests Could Solve Mystery of Baroque Master Caravaggio’s Death

ROME.- The mystery surrounding the death of Baroque master Caravaggio may soon be resolved thanks to new DNA tests — as long as the right body can be found. What caused the death of the painter in 1610 and the whereabouts of his corpse have always been unclear. But a team of Italian anthropologists believe that what is left of Caravaggio’s body may be hidden among dozens of bodies buried in a crypt in Tuscany, thanks to recent historical clues. [...]