Dupaix, Guillermo, 1748 or 1750-1817

Born in Austro-Hungary in either 1748 or 1750, Guillermo Dupaix became one of the first Europeans to observe and describe the archaeological riches of Chiapas, Oaxaca, and Yucatan. As captain of the Regiment of Dragones de Almansa, Dupaix arrived in Mexico in 1791 and served for almost a decade. Between 1805 and 1807, he lead three Royal expeditions to survey major Mexican archaeological sites, working in close concert with Jose Luciano Castañeda, an artist with the National Museum. Among the sites they visited were the Mayan ruins at Palenque, the Zapotec/Mixtec site at Mitla, and several Aztec sites.

During his surveys, Dupaix was arrested under suspicion of being a revolutionary, and although he was acquitted, the charges brought his work to a halt. It took years for the results of his surveys and Castañeda's elegant illustrations to reach publication. Edward King, Lord Kingsborough, published a selection from Dupaix's account in 1831, however he introduced a number of distortions into Castañeda's drawings, making them look more Egyptian or Hebraic. In 1834, a more comprehensive, two volume edition appeared in France under the direction of Henri Baradère as Antiquités Mexicaines Relation des Trois Expéditions du Capitaine Dupaix, Ordonnés en 1805, 1806 et 1807 .

...