Viewed from the vantage point of a structure popularly known as the House of the Old Woman, the House of the Governor can be seen here in all its magnificence against a background of rolling clouds. The intricate relief motifs on its immense frieze (which is over 100 yards long) can best be appreciated shortly before noon, when the raking sunlight brings out all the relief of the stone mosaic. The iconography on this obviously important building (which Frederick Catherwood once declared to be the most beautifully proportioned in all of the Maya area) may have once conveyed information about the building's function. The whole structure (as indeed all Maya architecture) was once plastered and painted over in bright colors.