A Quantum Diaries Survivor

Yesterday morning, after packing my luggage and checking out from the Extended Stay where I lodged during the week, I headed to downtown Chicago, to meet Jadwiga and Vincent Lopez. They are dear friends of mine, and really fascinating people. They are older than me and have retired from their occupation a while ago, but they are both very juvenile and full of humor. I always enjoy their company and their wit. 

The Lopez live at the 10th floor of a very nice highrise  on the northern side of Chicago, on the lakefront. What is most interesting about their house is not so much the beautiful view of the lake, though,  as the amazing collection of ancient artistic sculptures from Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Mexico: small figures, tools, vases, all dating a thousand to two thousand years ago. 

Yesterday, during a pleasant lunch, Vincent explained to me the sequence of events that brought that remarkable collection together. As a little child, he was instilled with a love for antiques by his father, who used to bring him to the Museum of Archaeology of Madrid - the city where Vincent was born and lived until after world war II. 

It was only after the war, though, when he had to leave to Costa Rica - the only country from which he had been able to obtain a visa - that he started collecting ancient art pieces. He practiced as a Physician and used to work at an hospital, but poor people would visit him after hours and got treated for free: the salary from the hospital was enough for Vincent, who did not feel like charging poor people to cure them.  

One day, a farmer brought as a present for doctor Lopez a small dish he had retrieved in his field. Vincent of course was enthusiastic of the gift, and the word spread soon that the Physician would not accept money but would be happy to accept old sculptures and objects as a sign of gratitude for his services.  

In a few years, his collection grew large. Pieces of real beauty, from well before year 1000. When he moved to Ecuador, he continued to collect art sculptures, and his collection grew larger. Later, he acquired more pieces in Mexico. He owns very beautiful pieces from north-western Mexico, some of them two thousand years old - as the figure in the last picture below.  

Some of the pieces he owns are really very aesthetic, but most of the interest lies in their age and rarity, and in their good state of conservation. The house of Jadwiga and Vincent is little short from being a museum. In the pictures below, you can see a part of the collection.