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Photo, Print, Drawing Laguna de Siecha, Province of Bogotá. Laguna de Siecha

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About this Item

Title

  • Laguna de Siecha, Province of Bogotá.

Other Title

  • Laguna de Siecha

Summary

  • This watercolor by Manuel María Paz (1820--1902) shows Laguna de Siecha, in the province of Bogotá (present-day Cundinamarca Department) in west-central Colombia. The lake was of religious significance to the indigenous local Chibcha Muisca people, who were believed to have made gold offerings to their deities at the lake. Settlers in search of gold drained the lake in colonial times, but it has since refilled. 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], 1855.

Headings

  • -  Colombia--Cundinamarca
  • -  1855
  • -  Expeditions and surveys
  • -  Lakes and ponds
  • -  Mountains
  • -  Regional Memory of the World Register, Scientific Memory of Andean America
  • -  Trees

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  Original resource extent: Watercolor on paper ; 31 x 23 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

  • 2021670102

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress is unaware of any copyright or other restrictions in the World Digital Library Collection. Absent any such restrictions, these materials are free to use and reuse. Researchers are encouraged to review the source information attached to each item. For information on contacting WDL partner organizations, see this archived list of partners

The Library asks that researchers approach the materials in this collection with respect for the culture and sensibilities of the people whose lives, ideas, and creativity are documented here.

Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

More about Copyright and other Restrictions

For additional information and contact information for many of the partner organizations, see this archived capture of the World Digital Library site from 2021.

For guidance about compiling full citations consult Citing Primary Sources.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Colombia. Comisión Corográfica Sponsor, and Manuel María Paz. Laguna de Siecha, Province of Bogotá. Colombia Cundinamarca, 1855. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021670102/.

APA citation style:

Colombia. Comisión Corográfica Sponsor & Paz, M. M. (1855) Laguna de Siecha, Province of Bogotá. Colombia Cundinamarca, 1855. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified] [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021670102/.

MLA citation style:

Colombia. Comisión Corográfica Sponsor, and Manuel María Paz. Laguna de Siecha, Province of Bogotá. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified] Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021670102/>.