The British architect, painter, graphic artist and illustrator Frederick Catherwood (1799-1854) studied architecture in London between 1815-1820. Joseph Severn invited him to Rome in 1821 to participate in excavations of ancient monuments. In the following years Catherwood made visits to Sicily, Greece, Egypt and Palestine. Between 1836-1839 he worked as an architect in New York. In the years 1839-1840 and 1841-1842 he took part in expeditions to Mexico and Guatemala under the lawyer and archeologist John Lloyd Stephens. They later were seen as pioneers and credited for the "rediscovery of the Maya civilization. In 1844 Catherwood published one of his major works "Views of Ancient Monuments" in Central America.