Research Catalog

Title

Dances appellées mitotes [graphic].

Publication

[17--?]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Bry, Theodor de, 1528-1598.

Description

1 print : etching, b&w; 12 x 17 cm.

Summary

Representation of the mitote, a ritual dance of the native Mexicans. A men's dance, it is said to involve standing on each other's shoulders and ropewalking, both of which are depicted here in an outdoor setting, along with other activities. Some of the men wear headdresses and skirts apparently made of feathers or leaves. The long-haired figure at right, seen from the back, appears to be a female observer. A western sailing ship appears on the waters in the background.

Alternative Title

Danses appellées mitotes

Subjects

• Etchings
• Ritual and ceremonial dancing > Mexico
• Mitote (Dance)
• Dance > Mexico

Genre/Form

Etchings.

Biography (note)

• Two other versions of this print, each titled in a different language, are held by the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University, and posted on its online JCB Archive of Early American Images. According to the JCB Archive, both derive from an engraving by Theodor de Bry, published in the series America, Pt. 9, 3rd part, plate 11, accompanying a description of dances of the Mexicans. The print titled Danças llamadas mitotes was published in Antwerp in 1728; the print titled Tänze Mitotes was published in Halle, Germany, in 1752. Although the prints differ in details, the figures of the man balancing on another man's shoulders are a prominent part of all three. As copies of an engraving that was itself based on an original image by another artist, these prints are several times removed from the actual observation of the scene.
• Theodor de Bry, born in Liège, was an engraver, printmaker, publisher, and goldsmith. Although he is best known for his engraved illustrations to the series America, which began to appear in the 1590s, he never set foot in the New World himself, but based his engravings on works by the watercolorist John White and the artist Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues, who did the actual traveling.

Call Number

*MGZFD Anon Mit 1

OCLC

771303666

Title

Dances appellées mitotes [graphic].

Imprint

[17--?]

Biography

Two other versions of this print, each titled in a different language, are held by the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University, and posted on its online JCB Archive of Early American Images. According to the JCB Archive, both derive from an engraving by Theodor de Bry, published in the series America, Pt. 9, 3rd part, plate 11, accompanying a description of dances of the Mexicans. The print titled Danças llamadas mitotes was published in Antwerp in 1728; the print titled Tänze Mitotes was published in Halle, Germany, in 1752. Although the prints differ in details, the figures of the man balancing on another man's shoulders are a prominent part of all three. As copies of an engraving that was itself based on an original image by another artist, these prints are several times removed from the actual observation of the scene.

Theodor de Bry, born in Liège, was an engraver, printmaker, publisher, and goldsmith. Although he is best known for his engraved illustrations to the series America, which began to appear in the 1590s, he never set foot in the New World himself, but based his engravings on works by the watercolorist John White and the artist Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues, who did the actual traveling.

Local Note

Cataloging funds provided by Friends of Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

This item may be offsite for digitization. For additional information please contact dance@nypl.org.

Connect to:

NYPL Digital Collections

Local Subject

Mitote (Dance)

Ritual and ceremonial dancing -- Mexico.

Added Author

Bry, Theodor de, 1528-1598. Associated name

Research Call Number

*MGZFD Anon Mit 1