The Art of the Maya Flashcards
How did Mesoamerican cultures understand and represent the gods? What forms did they take?
Mayan religion was characterized by the worship of nature gods (especially the gods of sun, rain and corn), a priestly class, the importance of astronomy and astrology, rituals of human sacrifice, and the building of elaborate pyramidical temples. Sacrifices to the gods were necessary to ensure the continuation of the world.
The concept of the afterlife in Mayan society: where was it located? How was it represented? Consider especially Pakal’s tomb and sarcophagus.
In Mayan beliefs, the underworld is literally beneath the physical world, and could be reached through holes in the Earth. Both Classic and modern Maya notions of death andancestors emphasize themes of rebirth, renewal, andcontinuation. Among the modern Maya, the life cycle of plants (especially maize) is understood as a metaphorfor human life. Mayan kings such as Pakal depicted themselves as reincarnations of the Maize God. Pakal was buried like a seed in water (jade), in the earth and ready to sprout once more.
Consider the various roles of visibility and invisibility in Mesoamerican objects.
Offering 4 in La Venta is an example where an invisible object continued to exercise power on people. In the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, previous layers were not visible but they were present. Pakal’s sarcophagus was readable, but once again, invisible.
How does narrative operate in Yaxchilan and Bonampak? What role does time play?
The lintels from Structure 23 in Yaxchilan and the Bonampak murals show that time did not necessarily unfold chronologically in narratives. Although the narrative of the three panels unfolds chronologically, the central panel in the timeline of the narrative was made first. In Bonampak, time unfolds as the viewer looks across the painting. It does not represent a distinct moment in time.
Offering 4
La Venta, Mexico. Olmec culture. 900-400 BCE. Jade, serpentine, sandstone. The tableau of greenstone figures surrounding a figure made of more porous stone was buried underneath a plaza at La Venta. A century after the sculptures were buried, a hole was dug over them and they were viewed; afterwards, they were buried again. Though the work was hidden, it is clear that it exerted power because the people remembered exactly where it had been buried.1
Colossal Head
San Lorenzo, Mexico. Olmec culture. 1200-900 BCE. Basalt. Huge basalt blocks for these large sculptures were brought from distant locations to San Lorenzo. Each face is different, suggesting that they represent specific individuals.
Temple of the Feathered Serpent
The Ciudadela, Teotihuacan, Mexico. Teotihuacan culture. 200 CE. Seven tiered structure that exhibits talud-tablero construction. It was enlarged several times, and each enlargement completely enclosed the previous structure. The Storm God and the Feathered Serpent may be symbols of regeneration/cyclical renewal.
Ceremonial center of the city of Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan, Mexico. Teotihuacan culture. 100-650 CE. A vast sunken plaza surrounded by temple platforms. Rituals were performed here, and it was the city’s principal religious and political center. Focal point: the Temple of the Feathered Serpent.
Portrait of Pakal the Great
Pakal’s Tomb, Temple of the Inscriptions, Palenque, Mexico. Maya culture. Mid 7th century CE. Stucco and red paint. Pakal’s sloping forehead, elongated skull, full lips and open mouth are characteristic of the Mayan ideal of beauty. He adopts the swooped-up hairstyle of the Maize God.
Lid of the Sarcophagus of Pakal the Great
Temple of the Inscriptions, Palenque, Mexico. Mayan culture. 680 CE. Pakal had much more of a material culture around him because of his success. He is in the jaws of the underworld, but is also connected to the heavens in this sarcophagus case. He is portrayed as being reborn as the maize god. Around the edge of the lid is a sky band, showing that the scene is occurring in another world. Pakal is inside of a big jaw, which may be a centipede mouth (the opening of the underworld and where sun comes out of in the morning). He is a corn kernel planted in the ground surrounded by jade (water). According to Stuart and Stuart, the lid was the first indication that Mayan inscriptions held the histories and names of real people.
Votive/Kunz Axe
Olmec culture. 900-400 BCE. Jade. Part-human, part-beast. The figure may represent a chief or shaman who has transformed himself into a powerful jaguar to draw on its power. Was used in ritual settings.
Stela 14
Piedras Negras, Mexico. Mayan culture. 760 CE. Limestone. Displays the ruler’s accession and parentage. His mother is on the left in the foreground. There are a number of artist and sculpture signatures on the work, indicating the importance of art and those who produced it it Mayan society.
Lintels from Structure 23
Yaxchilan, Mexico. Maya culture. 725 CE. Limestone. Commissioned by a woman to show her committing ritual practices with her husband the king. Importance of bloodletting: according to Maya belief, when a member of the royal family sheds his or her blood, a portal to the Otherworld was opened through which gods and spirits might pass into this world.Three panels: bloodletting by pulling a thorny rope through her tongue, the serpent appears to her and spits out the god of war, she prepares her husband for battle. The story unfolds chronologically, but the earliest lintel is the one in the center.
Wall Painting
Structure 1, Room 2, north wall, Bonampak, Mexico. Maya culture. c. 790 CE. Pigment on lime plaster (fresco). According to Miller, access was Bonampak was limited, and only privileged people could see the murals because they had to be viewed from a specific seat within each room. Time unfolds across the scenes not as a succession of events but rather as if they all occur within the time that the eye sees them. On the north wall, the reading pattern zigzags across the wall.
Bloodletting Ritual
Fragment of a fresco from Teotihuacan, Mexico. Teotihuacan culture, 550-650 CE. A highly ranked/priestly man chants while conducting a bloodletting ritual. This exchange of fluids was important to the Mayans as it symbolized revitalizing the Earth by giving life back to it.
