Rafael (Warsaw, Russian Empire) 1895-1905 (ca) Máximo and Bartola (also known as Maximo Valdez Nunez and Bartola Velasquez)
Cabinet card Private collection of Sergey Maximishin (Sergey Maximishin, 4 September 2020) Máximo and Bartola (also known as Maximo Valdez Nunez and Bartola Velasquez respectively) were the stage names of two Salvadoran siblings both suffering from microcephaly and cognitive developmental disability who were exhibited in human zoos in the 19th century. Originally from near Usulután, El Salvador, the siblings were given by their mother to a merchant who promised he would take them to Grenada to be educated and exhibited. They then went through several guardians afterwards. They were eventually billed as "Aztec Children" and an elaborate story was constructed of how they were found in the temple of a lost Mesoamerican city. They toured the U.S. and Europe, appearing before various regents and dignitaries
