August 02, 2002
Hurst, Ashby, Bonampak Murals

Heather Hurst and Leonard Ashby spent over 2 years working in a studio above a tattoo parlor in New Haven. When they came out, they had painted stunning half-size replicas of the 3 Bonampak murals. (Click on thumbnails for larger photo)

Even at half-size, each painting measures 8'x30'. This was the latest stage of the Bonampak Documentation Project, led by Yale professor Mary Miller, which employed new multispectral cameras to capture previously unseen details of the murals. Combined with the best existing color and black and white photos, some taken soon after the murals were discovered, the work yielded the most accurate rendering ever made of what the murals originally looked like. Just as important, new glyphic information has been revealed and verified by visiting epigraphers, including Stephen Houston and Karl Taube.

A digital copy of the paintings has been delivered to Mexico, and a gallery show of another copy is planned for this fall in New York. The paintings will find a permanent home in a new art gallery at Yale.

Posted by Dave at August 02, 2002 11:34 PM