Photo, Print, Drawing Waterfall near the Source of the Magdalena, and Improvised Shelter of Leaves of the Cerbatana Plant, at an Altitude of 3,470 Meters above Sea Level, Province of Neiva. Provincia de Neiva. Cascada cerca del origen del Magdalena, i rancho improvisado con la hoja Cervatana, a la atura de 3470 metres sobre el nivel del mar
About this Item
Title
- Waterfall near the Source of the Magdalena, and Improvised Shelter of Leaves of the Cerbatana Plant, at an Altitude of 3,470 Meters above Sea Level, Province of Neiva.
Other Title
- Provincia de Neiva. Cascada cerca del origen del Magdalena, i rancho improvisado con la hoja Cervatana, a la atura de 3470 metres sobre el nivel del mar
Summary
- This watercolor by Manuel María Paz (1820-1902) shows a waterfall near the source of the Río Magdalena cutting through forested mountain slopes in the Province of Neiva (in present-day Huila Department), in southwest Colombia. In the foreground, campesinos are cooking a meal over a campfire, sheltered by the tall leaves of Cerbatana plant. The watercolor is typical of Paz's work, which captured the diversity of the population of Colombia and depicted the daily activities and traditional customs of the country's different ethnic, racial, and social groups. Paz was born in Almaguer in the province of Cauca. He joined the Colombian army at a young age and showed exceptional skills as a cartographer and painter. In 1853 he took over the role of draftsman of the Comisión Corográfica (Chorographic Commission) formerly held by Henry Price (1819--63). The commission, which began work in 1850, was tasked with studying the geography, cartography, natural resources, natural history, regional culture, and agriculture of the Republic of New Granada (present-day Colombia and Panama). Paz worked under Agustín Codazzi (1793--1859), the Italian-born geographer and engineer who co-founded and directed the commission. In 1859, at Codazzi's death, Paz was among the collaborators who took on the task of reviewing, completing, and publishing the work that the Comisión Corográfica had undertaken since 1850. As a draftsman, Paz executed watercolors and drawings that were very exact and strove to represent the places and people of Colombia in a naturalistic and objective style. These pictures constitute invaluable documentary records for the history and culture of Colombia. They also provided information pertinent to drawing up the maps that were one of the main objectives of the Comisión Corográfica. More than 90 paintings by Paz are preserved at the National Library of Colombia.
Names
- Colombia. Comisión Corográfica Sponsor.
- Paz, Manuel María, 1820-1902 Artist.
Created / Published
- [place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 1857.
Headings
- - Colombia--Huila
- - 1857
- - Camps
- - Cliffs
- - Expeditions and surveys
- - Grasses
- - Magdalena River (Colombia)
- - Regional Memory of the World Register, Scientific Memory of Andean America
- - Rivers
- - Waterfalls
Notes
- - Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
- - Original resource extent: 1 painting : watercolor ; 23 x 31 centimeters.
- - Original resource at: National Library of Colombia.
- - Content in Spanish.
- - Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.
Medium
- 1 online resource.
Source Collection
- Colección Comisión Corográfica
Digital Id
Library of Congress Control Number
- 2021670149
Online Format
- compressed data
- image