Constantino Reyes-Valerio

Who was Constantino Reyes-Valerio?

Constantino Reyes-Valerio was a prominent Mexican scholar of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, particularly the Aztec and the Maya as well as the Colonial Art.

Reyes-Valerio identified the artistic contribution of Native Mexican Indians in the Colonial painting and sculpture; he coined the term Indochristian art. Another major contribution was his seminal work on the chemical composition and process of the Maya Blue Pigment where he re-discovered the technique used by the Maya to create the famous turquoise blue pigment. He was granted a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1972 for Fine Arts Research. He corresponded extensively with major scholars in Mexico and abroad such as George Kubler, Santiago Sebastian and Enrique Marco Dorta among others. In 2000 he was named Emeritus Researcher by the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia.

In April 2009, a special edition of the INAH bulletin was published as an in memoriam edition dedicated to Constantino Reyes-Valerio.