Lorenzo Boturini Benaduci facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lorenzo Boturini Benaducci
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| Born |
Lorenzo Boturini Benaducci
c. 1702 |
| Died | c. 1753 age 51 |
| Occupation | historian, antiquary, and ethnographer |
Lorenzo Boturini Benaducci (born around 1702 in Como, Italy – died around 1753 in Madrid, Spain) was a very important historian. He was also an antiquary, someone who studies old things, and an ethnographer, someone who studies different cultures. He focused on New Spain, which was the name for parts of North America ruled by the Spanish Empire.
Contents
Early Life of Lorenzo Boturini
Lorenzo Boturini Benaducci was born in Italy into a noble family. This means his family had a high social rank. He studied in Milan and later lived in places like Trieste and Vienna. He was even a knight of the Holy Roman Empire, a powerful group of states in Europe.
He had to leave Austria because of a war with Spain. He traveled through England and Portugal before reaching Spain. In Madrid, he met a countess named Condesa de Santibáñez. She was a descendant of the famous Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II. She asked Boturini to help her collect money owed to her from the royal treasury in New Spain.
Adventures in New Spain
Boturini traveled to New Spain in 1736 and stayed there for eight years. He explored many faraway places. He often lived with the native people, sometimes sleeping in their huts or in caves. He even stayed deep in lonely forests.
During this time, he gathered a huge collection of old paintings, maps, and special native books called codices. He copied over 500 ancient carvings and drew pictures of old monuments. He also researched the story of the Virgin of Guadalupe, a very important religious figure, appearing on a hill called Tepeyac. He traveled a lot and collected the biggest group of Mexican ancient items ever gathered by a European at that time.
Boturini wanted to write a history of the Virgin of Guadalupe. He also planned to put a gold crown on her image. For this, he asked for donations from bishops and the public. This caught the attention of the government in New Spain. They were suspicious of a foreigner making such a big request.
In 1744, the viceroy, Pedro Cebrián, 5th Count of Fuenclara, ordered an investigation. Boturini was put in prison, and his valuable collection was taken away. He was accused of entering New Spain without permission. He was also accused of bringing in church documents without the king's approval.
Boturini's Vindication
After spending eight months in prison, Boturini was sent back to Spain. On his journey, he was captured by pirates! Luckily, they eventually let him go in Gibraltar. From there, he traveled to Madrid in very difficult conditions.
In Madrid, he met Mariano Fernández de Echeverría y Veytia. This person was also very interested in old Indian items. Fernández de Echeverría y Veytia offered Boturini a place to live and helped him with money. He also convinced the Council of the Indies, a Spanish government group, to look at Boturini's case again.
Boturini was found innocent! The king even named him the royal historian of the Indies. The king ordered that his collection be returned to him and invited him to come back to New Spain. However, Boturini decided not to return. Sadly, his collection was never fully given back to him. It seems he was given some money and a salary to work on his planned history of the colony.
In Madrid, he wrote a history of ancient Mexico. This book was not published until after he died in 1755. Today, the library at the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe is named after him.
The Boturini Collection
Lorenzo Boturini gathered his amazing collection between 1736 and 1744. He wanted to use it to write a big history book called Historia de América Septentrional. His collection had many important documents. Most of them came from the native people.
Among these documents were special hieroglyphic paintings. These had once belonged to Juan de Alva Ixtlilxochitl. He was a descendant of the rulers of Texcoco, an important Aztec city. Ixtlilxochitl had given these documents to Don Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora.
The collection was taken by Viceroy Pedro Cebrián y Agustín when Boturini was arrested in 1743. It was stored in the viceroy's office. The documents were left uncared for over many years, and many pieces were stolen.
Later, another viceroy, Juan Francisco de Güemes, 1st Count of Revillagigedo, gave some of the paintings and documents to Fernández de Echeverría y Veytia. He was Boturini's friend from Madrid and a historian. When Fernández de Echeverría y Veytia died, the items went to Antonio de León y Gama. After he died in 1802, the collection went to his family.
Soon after, a famous explorer named Alexander von Humboldt got 16 paintings during his visit to Mexico in 1802–03. He published them in a book. The original paintings are now in the Berlin State Library.
Some other parts of the collection might have gone to Father José Pichardo, who also liked old things. Later, a person named Joseph Marius Alexis Aubin got important parts of the collection from different places. He sold his collection to Eugène Goupil. This part of the collection was then given or sold to the National Library in Paris. It is still there today, called the Aubin-Goupil Collection.
After Mexico became independent, the rest of the original collection was moved. First, it went to the university library. Then, in 1823, it moved to the Conservatory of Antiquities. Later, it was kept in the National Library. Today, you can find it in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.
Writings by Lorenzo Boturini
Lorenzo Boturini wrote several important works, though some were published after his death.
- Oratio ad Divinam Sapientiam (This book was never published).
- Idea de una Nueva Historia General de la América Septentrional. This was published in Madrid in 1746 and again in Mexico City in 1871.
- Catálogo del Museu Indiano. This was published in Mexico City in 1871.
- Historia general de la América Septentrional por el caballero Lorenzo Boturini Benaducci. This was published in Madrid in 1948.
- Idea of a New General History of North America: An Account of Colonial Native Mexico by Lorenzo Boturini Benaduci. This English translation was published in 2015.
Images for kids
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Statement by Lorenzo Boturini
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The Aztecs (Mexica) depart from Aztlan, in a scene from the Boturini Codex.
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Title page of the Idea de una Nueva Historia general de la América Septentrional, 1746.
See also
In Spanish: Lorenzo Boturini para niños
