rests on his thigh, whilst the animal is represented in the act of advancing slowly and treading on a quiver of arrows.
This statue is, of course, liable to some just criticism, founded on the bad models for horses which the artist had recourse to in Mexico whilst engaged in his task; and although a due degree of strict adherence to historical portraiture did not permit him to exalt too much the personal characteristics of the king, he has nevertheless contrived to infuse a great deal of power into the statue so as to entitle it to a fair comparison with some of the best European equestrian works in bronze.
All the minor parts of the figures and their decorations are finished with the utmost neatness, and another
proof is given, in this statue of the genius possessed by the natives for the imitative arts. It was the work of Tolsa, and was first opened to public view on its pedestal in the plaza, in the year 1803, under the viceroyal government of Iturrigaray.
In a corner of this court yard, on the left of the portal, amid a quantity of ancient lumber and relics, are the sacrificial stone and the gigantic idol