Art of the Americas

Art of the Americas

Theme: “Incorporation of Natural World”

Much of the art of the Americas addresses contact and unity with the natural world, cosmic geometry, and a high value placed on utilizing natural objects in artwork. Nature is both the subject and the medium for artwork.

Historical Context: Art of the Americas

Large city-states were developed, and sacred sites were often passed down from group to group. Communities were built upon previously existing sites.

There were a wide variety of groups. Some nomadic and hunter-gatherers, others were agriculturalists, some had little technology and others understood medicine, astronomy, and engineering.

Post-Columbian had a dramatic and near-total destruction of indigenous art, culture, and even life. Europeans flooded into the new world and brought European painting styles with them. Most of the groups were converted to Catholicism primarily.

Americas

The Indigenous Americas Concurrent Dates

753 BCE The Founding of Rome

600 BCE Mayan civilization begins in Mexico

325 CE Council of Nicea

476 CE Western Rome falls

632 CE Death of Mohammed

1492 CE Columbus sails, expulsion of the Jews from Spain, Inquisition in high gear

1510’s CE Montezuma, Aztec ruler, receives Cortes and the Spanish Conquistadors Copernicus tells us that the earth revolves around the sun. The American East coast is discovered up to Charleston.

Artistic Innovations: Art of the Americas

• Well-adapted to the region: local materials were used in works of art
• Most artists were commoners and often employed by state or leaders
• Sculpture: varies from intimate works to monumental centerpieces
• Art was not meant to just be viewed but is was functional and connected to emphasize a connection to nature.

Cultures and Styles

The styles from the various Mesoamerican cultures differed markedly.

Three major distinct cultures and styles of Ancient Mesoamerica (Middle America) were the Olmec, Maya, and Mexica, also known as Aztec, the empire that was dominated.

The Olmec culture existed during the first millennium BCE, primarily in the Gulf Coast. The Mayan culture peaked during the first millennium CE in eastern Mesoamerica, the Yucatan Peninsula, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras. The Mexica culture existed from 1428 to 1521 CE in the region of central Mexico, though subordinating most of Mesoamerica.

There were other important cultures including:

• Teotihuacan
• Toltec
• West Mexican
• Mixtec
• Zapotec

Pre-Columbian

Pre-Columbian refers to the period in the Americas before the arrival of the Europeans and Christopher Columbus in 1492.

Olmec Culture

The Olmec are considered the first Mesoamerican civilization and were the foundation for the pre-Columbian civilizations. They lived in what today is Mexico and Guatemala and flourished between 1500-400 BCE.

Heads and Masks

The Olmec began to create great sculptures made of stone as well as carvings made from jade or serpentine. The artists used stone chisels and simple utensils to carve and polish.

This Colossal Head above, is made from basalt and has been dated to 1200-400 BCE. It was found in San Lorenzo, Veracruz, Mexico. Today it is housed in the Anthropology Museum of Xalapa, in Vera Cruz.

This colossal human head is emblematic for the Olmec art. Seventeen such heads were found in the low-lying Gulf Coast area of Mexico in the cities of San Lorenzo, La Venta, Tres Zapotes. They measure from 1.5 meters to 3.5 meters in height and weight from 6 to 50 tons and are carved in a volcanic rock called basalt.

The apogee of the Olmec cities happened almost at the same time as Remus and Romulus founded Rome and Athenians reached their Golden Age. The impressive cultural legacy of the Olmec cities (2000-400 BCE) spread throughout ancient Mexico during the first millennium BCE.

Later Mesoamerican cultures such as the Maya and Aztec revered the Olmec artworks and used them as burial items or as offerings to the gods. This was the case of the Olmec-style jadeite head mask brought from a distant Gulf area. It was ritually buried in an offerings’ pit in the main plaza of the Aztec main temple, Templo Mayor (1375-1520 CE), Tenochtitlan (Mexico City, Mexico).

The Olmec mask carving at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, featured above dates between 900-400 BCE and is made of jadeite. Although it looks like a mask, it was not worn this way as it does not have cut outs for the eyes and nose.

While the stylized Olmec like mask is small, almost the size of a human palm, and the head is a realistically carved megalith, they both represent heads wearing a helmet. The mask only suggests having it, by the means of the smooth, highly polished forehead.

These artworks are traditionally interpreted as portraits of chiefs, kings, ancestors, or deities dressed for a ball game, being early evidence for the importance of a ballgame in the cultures of Mesoamerica.

The head-like figures symbolized the very concept of rulership either by a colossal imposing and sturdy presence or by a smaller representation using a more expensive material and incorporating symbolic animal traits.

Made with a Single Block

Olmec heads and masks were carved from a single block of stone. The work demanded by both artworks was immense as both basalt and jadeite are hard to carve. The large sections were sawed with string and grit. The face details would have been made by an abrasion method followed by polishing.

The abrasion method would have required the rubbing of the same kind of very hard stone onto the artwork and the use of a mixture of sand and water as an abrasive.

For smaller sized ritual objects such as masks and axes, the Olmecs favored the expensive green-blue jadeite. They associated the greenstone with fertility and growing corn, and they retrieved it from the faraway Guatemalan mountains.

In Comparison

The faces have a strong jawline and very simplified elongated ears that frame the face. The same specific parts of the head have more volume and relief, looking almost fleshy. Note the chin, the nose, and the upper lip. The faces show aesthetic maturity and individuality as no two heads or masks are alike. They also have lifeless traits.

The colossal head looks severed. Since the mask is unwearable It was probably either a costume element, or a mummy mask. The mask is almost modern showing a remarkable simplicity and elegance. It reflects the cult of a mythical human-jaguar being, the “were-jaguar” through symbolic facial features such as the slanted, almond eyes, and the slightly downturned mouth. Note the drilled cleft marks, also called jaguar snarl.

On the contrary, the basalt colossal stone head is more detailed and realistic. The feline traits that constitute the later divinity signs in Olmec art are absent in this colossal head. Its helmet-like headdress is adorned with distinctive elements symbolizing a group membership.

Other symbolic elements might have been the large ear spools inserted into the ear lobes. We know that the later Maya considered holes and passages of all kinds as points of entry into the supernatural world. They wore jade ear spools to symbolically mark the passageways for the soul. One of the most common Maya phrases for death, och bih (literally “to enter/go on”).

Olmec Architecture

La Venta Olmec site, in Tabasco, Mexico, from 394 BCE has a The Great Pyramid in the center. It stands 110 feet high and is one of the earliest pyramids known in Mesoamerica. It is rectangular in shape, with stepped sides and inset corners, although this could be due to erosion.

The Altar 4 at La Venta, it is roughly 2 meters high and twice as wide. It has a sculpture with elaborate dress carved into it, which makes the figures appear to be sitting in the mouth of a cave.

Important Olmec Regions 

One of the most important cultural centers of this period is the region of Oaxaca.

• Identifiable deities began to appear in works
• Primitive glyphic writing developed

Other important cultural centers such as Izapa and Kaminaljuyú emerged south of the Maya area. This is where Olmec and Mayan art began to merge.

 

Mayan Culture

Mayan shared a common culture but with regional differences. The territory in which they lived was vast and was comprised of what is now the Mexican states of Yucatan, Campeche, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, and parts of Chiapas, as well as the counties of Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, and Western Honduras.

Architectural Achievements

• Columns
• Mouldings
• Superimposed terraces
• Characteristic Corbel arches

 Calendars

• Design of a solar calendar (Haah) with 365 days per year
• Design of a ritual calendar (Tzolkin) with 260 days

Arithmetical Symbols

• A dot equals the number 1
• A line equals the number 5
• A stylized shell is equal to 0

Identifying Mayan Time Periods

Pre-Classical Period (500 BC to 325 CE)

• Pottery began to appear
• Influence of the Olmec culture was prominent

 Classical Period (325 CE to 925 CE)

The classical period is further divided into three subsections:

Early (325 CE- 625 CE)

• Corbeled arch
• Stelae with hieroglyphics and important dates (historical and mythical)

Flowering (625 CE to 800 CE)

• Maya culture reached its height
• Cities were built
• Advances were made in astronomy
• Calendars with hieroglyphics
• Arts flourished: pottery, painting, sculpture, lapidary arts

 Decline (800-925 CE)

• An uprising of the lower classes
• Priests and leaders fled the city
• There was a general disregard for the arts

Mexica or Maya Toltec Period (925 CE to 1200 CE)

• Traditions of Mayan and Toltec began to mix

Period of Mexican Absorption (1200-1540 CE)

• The Alliance between the Maya and the Nahia family was broken resulting in Civil War

(5) 155. Yaxchilán.

Maya. 725 CE.  Maya.

Learning Objective: Maya religious/ political complex

Themes:

Politics
Propaganda
Power
Religion
Architecture
Civic
Rulers
Male-female relationships
Visions
Text and image
Ideal man
Ideal woman
Animals in art
Ceremony
Victory

Yaxchilán a structure made of limestone can be found in Chiapas, Mexico.  It is a large complex set upon the side of the Usumacinta River with many buildings that are sprinkled across the site.

Buildings are narrow, with three entryways into each. They are not intended to hold many people.

There are elaborate roof-comb roofs (a masonry “wall” that rises upwards above a building to give the impression that it is taller than it is). The exterior is decorated with stucco. 

Function

• Civic space: religious; political; social
• Display of political power and legitimacy
  • Shield Jaguar displays prominence
  • Part of a political campaign by Bird Jaguar IV to secure his rulership because it was contested
  • Decorations were intended to advertise Bird Jaguar IV’s dynastic lineage and thus his right to rule
• Display of piety
  • Decorations show the gods in support and in the company of Bird Jaguar due to his great piety

Content

Yaxchilán  is a large Maya center and complex covered with inscriptions and relief sculptures. It is comprised of temples and ball courts.

SUB-IMAGE 1 (Structure 40) 

• Shows Bird Jaguar towering over war captives accompanied by his parents
  • Emphasizes lineage
• Building overlooks main plaza

SUB-IMAGE 2 (Structure 33)

• Constructed by Bird Jaguar
• Example of Maya Classical architecture
• Incorporates many decorative friezes on undersides of lintels of Bird Jaguar
  • Bird Jaguar in fantastic royal clothing of a Maya ruler
  • Bird Jaguar plays game against enemies (Lord Jewelled Skull)
  • Bird Jaguar wins

SUB-IMAGE 3 (Lintel 25 on Structure 23)

Structure 23 is a yotoot (a palace building)

To understand Lintel 25, we must look at Lintel 24

• Lintel 24 (not included on AP)
  • Lady Xoc kneels in front of Shield Jaguar to begin the bloodletting ceremony.
  • She has already cut a long slit in the middle of her tongue.
  • Through this hole, she pulls a rope through. The rope has cactus thorns inserted through it, which will rip her tongue as she pulls it through and cause her to bleed profusely.
  • She will collect the blood in the bowl that sits on the ground.

 

Lintel 25

• Inscription tells us this is October 20, 681: date of Shield Jaguar’s ascension to the throne
  • Text is written in mirror image which is highly unusual
  • Possible theory: perhaps this is because her vision is from the other side of existence
• Lady Xoc has conducted the bloodletting ceremony and is now receiving a manifestation of a vision.
  • She holds a bowl of blood that she would have collected after it spilled from her mouth, and she gazes upward at the vision.
  • From the mouth of the serpent god Tlaloc comes a warrior who pops out carrying a shield and spear and this is Shield Jaguar.
    • This vision proves Shield Jaguar’s association with the gods, thus legitimizing his claims to power.

This image is carved in high relief, with carefully incised details is typical of Mayan artwork. It would have been originally painted.

Notice the Mayan concept of beauty with arching brows and an indentation above the nose pushed outward. Most wealthy Mayan families put their children in head braces to create this. Faces are long and narrow with full lips.

 Lintel 26 (not included on AP)

• Having proved the divinity of her husband, Lady Xoc dresses her husband for battle.

The Background Story

Yaxchilan’s ruling dynasty rose in the 4^th century CE. By the 8^th century, the  Mayan cultural and political Renaissance was led by Shield Jaguar II. He ruled for 60 years from 681-741 CE and commissioned this site as well as many sculptural works.

Shield Jaguar had a son Bird Jaguar with his second wife. Shield Jaguar chose Bird Jaguar to be the next ruler, even though he was not royal because he did not come from the first wife.

Then from 741 – 752 Civil War raged.

Bird Jaguar ruled from  752 – 768. He had difficulty being accepted by the Mayans because he lacked royal status. Therefore, many did not consider him the rightful heir to the throne.  To legitimize his throne, he had decorative steles and reliefs added to Yaxchilan.

The City-state of Yaxchilan collapsed in the 9^th century.

It’s a fact: Maya writing was not fully deciphered until the 1970s and 1980s.

Women and the Maya Court

Women played a prominent role in the Maya court.  They held positions as queens and mothers. Being a principal wife meant that you were believed to have particularly significant power and became part of the bloodletting ritual— central to legitimizing kingship.

Digs in Structure 23 have found sharp objects for bloodletting with Lady Xoc’s name on them. It is assumed she is buried somewhere around the temple.

It was believed that when a member of the royal family shed his or her blood, a portal to the other world was opened allowing gods and spirits to pass through it.  Letting blood was a sign of sacrifice and piety to acquire the favor of the gods. This helped to dedicate new buildings, legitimize kings, and commemorate births of children.

Bloodletting for queens was believed to grant significant visions. However, medically, these visions were hallucinatory states resulting from large amounts of blood loss.

Other Mayan Works to Note

Tulum

Tulum sits high on a cliff overlooking the waters of the Caribbean Sea in the Yucatan peninsula, of Mexico. Although the exact date of the building is unknown, evidence of human occupation dates to 564 BCE.  The remains of Tulum today, include buildings, tombs, and platforms, inside the walls. Here, visitors find outstanding examples of Mayan culture.

The Great Outer Wall was built for both defence and to separate religious structures. The Inner Precinct has the most important buildings. These include:

• The Castle
• The Temple of the Descending God
• The Temple of the Initial Series

The Castle 

The most important monument in Tulum is El Castillo (The Castle). Reaching to 25 feet tall, it stands at the front of a bluff overlooking the ocean. The castle was a shrine and a center to host ceremonies. At night-time, when the torches were lit, the building helped to navigate boats through the coral reefs. The Mayan were traders with a reach as far as Honduras.

The Temple of the Descending God

This is a well-preserved building. The temple is built upon another flat roofed structure. Murals decorated the façade. Intertwining snakes, the sun, rain, and the corn god can still be seen.

A small stairway leads to the one room temple. Inside are two benches and a window. Above the doorway, there is a winged god crafted in stucco. Inside, the hand painted walls illustrate offerings, under a blue border. This symbolizes the night sky.

The Temple of the Initial Series

This one room building has a stone lintel on the outside and a wood one on the inside. Two figures once flanked the door, but now only a partial one remains. Inside, the same figures decorate each corner. A small alter still remains. A broken stele was found and now housed in the British Museum.

The roof is a curved arc. Small windows look out to the south, east, and west.

Other Structures of the Inner Precinct  

Within the Inner Precinct there are also temples, shrines, and a platform. The shrines are built lower than the temples. The walls here are low and used for the purpose of separating the buildings.

Historians believe the platform was used for dances and other performances. It has stairways on each side.

The Aztecs

• The Aztecs were hunters/gatherers
• Advanced agricultural techniques using all available land
• Developers of superior irrigation systems
• Enacted a power structure where provinces maintained their own culture and language
• Everyone had to worship Huītzilōpōchtli, the sun god of war and human- sacrifice

The Aztecs were a powerful group that made up the diverse indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. They encountered Spaniards in 1519. Although the Europeans would later refer to them as Aztecs, the people called themselves Mexica.

Deities 

Deities were a huge part of Aztec religion. The two most important were Huitzilopochtli and Tlatoc a rain and agricultural god.

Others include:

Tezcatlipoca (“Smoking Mirror”), patron of rulers and is symbolized with the mirror he wears. He was also associated with sorcery.

Quetzalcoatl (“Feathered Serpent”), was associated with the planet Venus, fertility, and wind.

Chalchiuhtlicue (“She of the Jade Skirt”) a goddess associated with lakes, rivers, and fertility.

Chicomecoatl (“Seven Serpent”) and Cinteotl (“Maize God”), were both connected to with maize and sustenance

Mictlancihuatl (“Lady of Mictlan”) and Mictlantecuhtli (“Lord of Mictlan”), deities of death and the underworld.

Art in Aztec Times

• Stone sculptures
• Terracotta sculptures
• Murals
• Codices
• Featherwork
• Mosaics

The Gleaming City

The city of Tenochtitlán, in central Mexico was founded by the Aztec people in 1325. During the 15^th century it was the capital of the growing Aztec empire. It was also the largest city in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica until Spain took it in 1521. By then, it was the fourth largest city in the entire world with an estimated 350,000 people.

Prior to the Spanish invasion, the Aztecs dominated all tribes in Mexico. This was quite the feat for a settlement started on an island in a swampy lake.

Cortez made the mistake of calling for the city to be destructed, so new Spanish buildings could be built on top. This caused Tenochtitlán, to sink deep into the lake. Templo Mayer would not be rediscovered until the 20^th century!

• The city covered 5.2 square miles
• Built on a series of islets
• Divided into four city sections.
• Each section was divided into 20 districts
• Canals were used for transportation
• The inner city was comprised of 45 public buildings, temples, schools and a large ceremonial center.
• Buildings were made of stone
• Homes were made from wood and loam with reed rooftops

(5) 157. Templo Mayor (Main Temple)

Mexica (Aztec). 1375-1520 CE.

Learning Objective: Aztec religious complex

Themes:

Place of worship
Religion
Architecture
Offerings
Power
Violence
Passage of time
Ceremony
Cross-cultural

Templo Mayor (Main Temple) is in Tenochtitlan (modern Mexico City, Mexico).  The main temple is made from stone, while volcanic stone was used to form the Coyolxauhqui Stone. Meanwhile, jadeite was used to create the Olmec-style mask and basalt for the Calendar Stone. 

The temple is like a ziggurat or stepped mastaba, with a double-wide staircase that leads to a plateau, and two smaller temples on top. It was expanded upon by many different rulers and continually enlarged. This has resulted in a complex system of rooms and chambers on the interior.

Why was Templo Mayor Built?

Templo Mayor was built to honor the gods Tlaloc and Huitzilopochli. Tlaloc was the god of water, rain, agriculture, and fertility. The Aztecs created the blue and white Northern temple for this god.  Huitzilopochli was the god of warfare, fire, sun and sacrifice and the Southern temple of white and red was built for this god. Together, the gods symbolized “burning water” which connoted warfare.

The structure shows the Aztec belief that they could control and influence the cosmos. The spring and autumn equinox rise between the two temples. Templo Mayor was believed to be an axis mundi. It sat on the center of the four quadrants of the empire as a small version of the universe. It illustrated power, piety, and place of worship both daily and otherwise. It was the space where sacrifice occurred.

SUB-IMAGE 1 Coyolxauhqui Stone 

This circular stone, carved in low relief, was originally painted and measures 11 feet across. It represents the daughter of the maternal earth deity. The name means bells-on-her-face (golden bells decorate her cheeks). She is shown naked with sagging breasts and a stretched belly to indicate that she was a mother. She is also shown decapitated and dismembered.

The story is arranged in a pinwheel shape.  Coyol’s mother Coatlicue becomes pregnant.  Coyol is angry and with her 400 brothers, they attack Coatlicue. H emerges fully clothed and armed to defend his mother. He beheads Coyol and throws her body down a great mountain

This Parallels the Aztec cosmos. Coatlicue (Earth) gives birth to H (sun) who kills Coyol by slicing her (moon) while their siblings (stars) watch.

This stone is located at the bottom of the staircase of the Templo Mayor. By placing this at the bottom, the Aztecs made their temple parallel to the mountain. Victims were sacrificed on the top. Then, their bodies were rolled down the staircase to fall atop the Coyol stone and to re-enact this myth. This was a powerful reminder to submit to Aztec authority.

SUB-IMAGE 2 Calendar Stone

 The Calendar Stone is a round, monolithic, low relief sculptural work that measures 12 feet in diameter and weighs 24 tons. It would have set on the ground or on a table.

This is not a calendar, but rather it records the cosmos as the Aztecs saw it. Priests used the calendar stone to determine sacrificial periods. It shows the authority, religiosity, and responsibility of the Aztecs to continue the cycle of time by continuing sacrifice.

It may have been the stone Aztec priests sacrificed victims on and placed in front of Huitzilopochli’s temple. In the Aztec creation story the gods called for human blood to repay the debt to the gods who sacrificed themselves to create humans. Therefore, human sacrifice was needed. The Aztecs had a cyclical world view in that time repeated and started over. The way to move forward was with sacrifice.

In the center we see Tlaltecuhtli the devouring earth god or Tonatiuh the sun god. The god is wearing earrings. The tongue is a sacrificial blade, and the hands hold a human heart.

Around the image is a sun shape that moves outward. The largest ray of sun points towards the cardinal directions. This is surrounded by a ring of 20 days – the basic unit of the Aztec calendar.

The cosmos was divided into four quadrants. So was Tenochtitlan and Templo Mayor. Other imagery represents different seasonal cycles and representations of gods/goddesses.

Images of various eras

• Current era is 5^th (symbolized by the central face with four rectangles protruding outward): Called Movement
• Four rectangles show the previous eras
• Jaguar; Wind; Rain; Water shows the ways in which the eras ended
• This world is Movement; we will die by earthquakes; Aztec empire is surrounded by volcanoes and fault lines.

 

SUB-IMAGE 3 Olmec-style mask

This mask is made from jadeite, which is a hard, green stone. Minerally, it is slightly different than jade.  The mask was not Aztec or made in Central Mexico but made 1,000 years earlier. It was brought here and was found in Templo Mayor, indicating its importance.

Art historians have a theory that it was probably worn around the neck during sacrifice and left at the temple for the gods. It was likely made by a group influenced by the Olmecs (Olmecs decline in 250 BCE or so). The Aztecs likely wanted to affiliate themselves with the Olmecs to draw a parallel between a great empire of the past (Olmecs) and a great empire now (Aztecs). This is just like how European kings constantly made associations between themselves and Roman emperors.

Thousands of objects have been found at the Templo Mayor. Some offerings demonstrated the Aztec’s awareness of the historical/cultural traditions of Mesoamerica.

Context

Originally, the city Tenochtitlan was established on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco, which is now Mexico City. Between 1519-1521 it was conquered by the Spaniards. Then it was flattened to build Mexico City upon. This was completed as a sign of European supremacy. It was discovered during an excavation in Mexico City in 1978.

Sacrifice was a major theme among Aztec religion. There was a belief was that Huitzilopochli needed energy every day to raise the sun. This required daily sacrifice and the priests would ritually eat the heart to symbolize Huitzilopochli’s intake of the sacrifice. This was used for intimidation for enemies.

 

(5) 158. Ruler’s feather headdress (probably of Motecuhzoma II).

Mexica (Aztec). 1428-1520 CE. Mexica (Aztec).

Learning Objective: Aztec headdress

Themes:

Headdress
Status
Power
Ruler
Cross-cultural
Propaganda
Ceremony
Materials with significance

Museum: World Museum in Vienna, Austria

Ruler’s feather headdress (probably of Motecuhzoma II) is made from feathers (quetzal and cotinga) and gold. The work measures 3 feet 9 inches high.

The 400 feathers symbolize eternity in Aztec culture.

The quetzal feathers only come from the male bird which has two to three tail feathers. The bird is only found in Costa Rica. This is an indication of long-distance trade that Aztecs participated in. It may also be a sign of tribute gifts given to Aztecs.

Additional feathers come from the cotinga bird (blue feathers) and the red snoonbill bird (red feathers). Feathers are both iridescent and allow movement with a breeze or turning.

Leather straps attach the crown to the head of a wearer. There are also ornamentations made of pure gold.

 Function

This head dress is a display of status and power by Motecuhzoma. It is part of a more elaborate costume that would have included earrings, tassels, and necklaces for rituals. The ruler would have had to walk up the steps of the Templo Mayor wearing these items. This displayed control over his own body and a superhuman strength and poise.

This work was sent by Spanish conquistador Cortes to HRE Charles V. It was meant not only to impress Charles V, but to encourage him to continue funding expeditions to the New World.

Historical Context

This headdress was likely worn by Motecuhzoma II who was the last Aztec king. He was captured, kept as a hostage, and killed by Spaniards.  Cortes conquered the Aztecs by 1521.

This headdress is exceptional. It impressed the Europeans because at the time they had never seen anything like it.

The Central Andes

The ancient Central Andes comprised present-day southern Ecuador, Peru, western Bolivia, and northern Chile. General cultural similarities across the Andes included an emphasis on surviving and interacting with the challenging environments, reciprocity, and cyclicality, rather than individualism. There was a reverence for the animal and plant worlds as part of the practice of shamanistic religion.

As with ancient Mesoamerica, the Central Andes region was a seat of culture and art parallel to the “Old World” in antiquity, diversity, and sophistication. Baskets from this region have been found dating to as early as 8800 BCE, proving early peopling from Asia through the rest of the Americas was accomplished by Neolithic times.

The culture practiced artificial mummification, or embalming, of the dead, along with leaving items with the bodies in graves for use in the afterlife. Golden jewelry found in tombs was in natural shapes like birds and other creatures, evidence of both funerary art practices and the connection of natural elements in artworks. The architecture of the Andean region integrated the environment and was a representation of power and social hierarchy within the culture and community.

Chavín and Inka were representative and distinct early and late cultures and styles. Chavín lived in the northern highlands with reach to the southern coast between 1200–500 BCE. While the Inka between 1438–1534 CE covered the entire Central Andes. Yet many other important, art producing cultures existed between them.

Chavín Culture

Chavins were a religious culture whose temple at Chavín de Huántar was the destination of religious pilgrimages to experience the Lanzón Stela, an ornate carved pillar that is symbolic of a central figure represented with a feline head and a human body that was worshiped. The temple featured relief sculptures with images of the deities worshiped. Pilgrims would travel long distances in search of religious visions and messages. They would encounter the Lanzón Stela in the midst of a series of dark tunnels at the center of the temple. The Chavín culture gave way to cultures such as Nazca, Huari, Chimú, and Chankas.

Archaeological evidence indicates that a small tribe called the Inca defeated the Chankas in battle, marking the start of the Inca Empire.

Inca Culture

Within the lifespan of five kings, the Inca gained control of the west coast of South America, becoming the largest nation in the world at that time, and existed for less than a century.

Inca administration was like that of the Roman Empire— although ruling officials changed, local languages and ethnic cultures in the 80 provinces remained intact. Rulers imposed conformity in religious practices and instituted the Inca language, Quechua, as the primary method of communication.

Like the Roman Empire, the Inca relocated groups of people within the empire to redistribute uncooperative tribes to loyal areas, while weavers, farmers, stone workers, and artisans were moved to areas where there was a need for their skill set. This contributed to the rapid growth of the Inca Empire and established a complex system of labor taxation. This system required citizens to contribute by providing labor for community-managed lands, for construction needs, for military campaigns, or for textile production.

The goods and services produced were redistributed to the population in three ways:

• support of religious needs
• support of the emperor, construction, and military campaigns
• support of the citizens

 (5) 153. Chavín de Huántar.

Chavín. 900-200 BCE. Chavín.

Learning Objective: Chavin religious complex

Themes:

Place of worship
Religion
Architecture
Pilgrimage
Hybrid
Deities
Status
Ceremony
Animals in art
Devotional object
Fertility
Site-specific

Chavín de Huántar is a stone (complex) in the Andean highlands of Peru and sits at an elevation of 10,330 feet.

The site is important for three reasons:

• It sits between eastern and western ranges of the Andes where the landscape moves from desert/beach to jungle, and it is seen as an important zone of transition.
• Located near the confluence of two rivers (Huachesca and Mosna) it is considered a spiritually powerful phenomenon.
• Also, as one of the most elevated sites it is closer to the divine.

The temple complex is comprised of two buildings:

 U-shaped Old Temple

• Open to the east, where the sun rises
• Interior of temple was full of tunnels, called galleries
• Tunnels all existed in total darkness: no windows
• Many smaller tunnels acted as air passageways
• Tunnels, being made of stone, had perfect acoustics

Rectangular New Temple

 Also has a rectangular sunken court 

Function

The temple site is dedicated to Lanzon god. This god ensured the harvest, fertility, and abundance was represented in the form of a stele. Lanzon was also known as the smiling god and is often represented smiling.

The temple became a significant pilgrimage site across the Chavin empire. The cultural effect of this pilgrimage site was that it became a melting pot of cultures, languages, and art forms. People from all over brought their styles to this site.

 SUB-IMAGE 1 (Lanzon Stela)

Lanzon god is represented in the form of a stela. The notched shape wedge is over 15 feet tall.

Illustrated as a human-feline hybrid with eyes gazing upward, it has a feline mouth with great fangs.

The left arm is down, while the right arm raises up with claw-like nails. Fangs and talons are associated with the jaguar – the top predator in the Andes. Eyebrows and hair of the figure are rendered as snakes in reference to the passage of time.

This work depicts the Lanzon god using contour rivalry. This is a representational form that uses a complex and deliberately visually confusing style allowing the viewers to see what is there— only if they know what to look for! This creates a barrier between believers who can see the true form and those who cannot.

The technique uses two images with shared parts or outlines. This was a common technique to delineate “true followers” from the masses.

Located deep within the Old Temple tunnels at the intersection of several galleries, this might have been erected before the building and then the building was built around it.

It is built between the ceiling and floor as to indicate its role as conduit between heaven and earth.

Lanzon means “great spear” or “great blade” in Spanish. This is a reference to the stone’s shape but also the shape of a digging stick used in traditional highland agriculture. No one knows the specifics of the rituals that unfolded in this site.

SUB-IMAGE 2 (Relief sculpture at Chavin de Huantar)

Multiple relief panels cover the site. The same iconography (animal iconography) and contour rivalry was used.

SUB-IMAGE 3 (Nose ornament at Chavin de Huantar)

The serpent motif is a common form of decoration across the site.

A nose ornament pinches or passes through the septum. This one is a clip on. Once on the nose the snakes lay on the cheeks. It was worn to indicate wealth, religion, and affiliation with the Lanzon cult.

Metallurgy is a main art form of the Chavin.  The gold is formed by hammering and cutting. Gold was believed to transform the wearer. It was considered spiritually powerful. Elite men and women were buried with these.

 More About the Chavin

Chavin were a pre-Inca civilization along the Andes in South America. They lived in a very diverse, large area of the Andes.

The Chavin were very skilled in metallurgy and in particular, gold.  Animals were often depicted into the imagery of deities.

Cross Cultural Comparison:

How does the Chavín de Huántar compare to other sacred architecture?

Chartres Cathedral

Another pilgrimage destination, the Chartres Cathedral is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and is one of the oldest Christian shrines in France. It is the site where a piece of linen is kept that is believed to have been worn by the Virgin Mary when she gave birth to Jesus. This linen is believed to have healing powers and, therefore, is the focus of religious pilgrimage.

The European Gothic cathedral has a u-shaped cross (basic early Christian Basilica) floor plan and was constructed in several stages. It is permeated with stained-glass windows, which allow large amounts of natural light to enter the chapel. This light was referred to as lux nova as it entered through what were considered sacred windows. Featured on the west façade are a large, round stained-glass window and the Royal Portal. The Royal Portal features sculptures of biblical kings and queens on the columns. Above is Christ on a throne surrounded by four evangelists, an example of early Gothic sculpture.

Both Chavín de Huántar and Chartres Cathedral have objects that worshipers see to encounter sacred experiences, and they functioned as pilgrimage destinations. They were both constructed in several stages to accommodate their sacred function. While Chavín de Huántar is impacted by the lack of windows and natural light, the Chartres Cathedral’s extensive stained-glass windows use an extraordinary amount of natural light to meet worship needs.

A Comparison of Sculptural Works

 Despite the technical and morphological differences between the Pyxis of al-Mughira and pre-Columbian Chavin de Huantar’s sculptures (the Staff God of the Raimondi Stele and El Lanzon hidden in the Old Chavin Temple), these objects had a visual propaganda function in the Umayyad and Chavin de Huantar cultures. They systematically combined images of power —images of the legitimate Umayyad heir in the pyxis and images of humans in the process of transformation into predators at Chavin—with threatening messages.

 

 

The artistic style of the ivory carvings of the pyxis and of the stone carvings of the Staff God and of the El Lanzon exhibits horror vacui, or the fear of leaving an empty space, which makes the political message of the artworks deliberately complex, confusing. Thus, their message for the outsiders is superficial, while those with a spiritual (Chavin) or political knowledge (Umayyad) can fully decipher the artwork.

The ivory objects produced in Al-Andalus between 950-1050 CE boxes or pyxides were most often used as a container for precious materials (perfumes, cosmetics) or insignia of power (regalia) and they were for the most part produced in the Madinat al-Zahra workshops of the Caliphate of Córdoba. We can safely assume that these objects were status symbolic gift for life cycle occasions in family the of the caliph such as marriage, birth, and coming of age. Most of these ivories mention the name of recipient of the gift, as well as the artist, the place, and the year.

The lid of the pyxis shows two lions symbolizing the Umayyads and a Kufic calligraphic inscription blessing the al-Mughira: “G-d’s blessing, favors, joy, beatitude to al-Mughira, son of the Commander of the faithful, may G-d have mercy upon him”.

There is a repeated presence of royal iconographic symbols such as falcons, lions, and a lute player flanked by two princely figures. One holds the braided scepter and flask of the Umayyads, while the other only holds a fan. There are men on horseback date-picking. The dates allude to the lost lands of Syria.

This indicates that a political message was sent to the prince. This message uses the preexisting royal symbolism manipulating it through wisdom fables. The revised royal iconography now no longer appears as proof of the virtues of the “sovereign” but rather suggest the legitimacy of the heir.

The depictions of agricultural and abundance becomes an argument for the caliph’s legitimacy and his innate art of governing.

One of the main lobes shows two young boys stealing eggs from an eagle’s nest. They are bitten by dogs. This is probably a reference to the quest for sovereignty. The Umayyads of Spain were known as ‘the falcons of the Quraysh’ and Cordoba was sometimes compared to an egg.  As a present to the caliph’s 2nd son, it is an allegoric warning to not break the succession line.

Another shows two riders picking dates accompanied by two wolfs/dogs pulling down by the tail two birds that are trying to eat the seeds of the palm tree symbol of the lost lands of Umayyads.

The last image contains a very clear warning. It uses the image of a lion that overpowers a bull. The image might be a simple assertion of the power of the lion (caliph’s heir) or might depict a story from Indian fables translated by the Umayyads in Castilian. The story in which the Lion Kills the Bull is emblematic of two friends whom a liar jackal contrives to disunite. The political warning is even more relevant given that later Al Mughira was assassinated on the day in which his brother died to prevent any claim he might have had against his young nephew.

Located in the Northern Highlands of Peru, on a trade route between the coast and the Amazon basin, the site of Chavin de Huantar was an important religious center between 900 and 200 BCE dominating an extended territory from the highlands to the coast. The ceremonial center controlled the Andean social life through religious leadership. The priests of Chavin held both public and exclusive (in the temple interiors) spiritual ceremonies and rituals during which the intoxicated believers interacted with the supernatural anthropomorphic gods depicted in several of the site’s sculptures.

The Chavin sculptures draw on the ancient fear and reverence of humans in front of the apex predators (snake, caymans, jaguar, hawks) and use their features to enhance the power of the priests and their control over the masses of believers. An outsider could still perceive the power of the sculptures by identifying toothed mouths, emerging animal limbs or snakes, but he/she would be unable to identify the primary figure and make sense of the iconography used.

El Lanzon and the Staff god from the Raimundi stella exhibit contour rivalry which is a representational technique that uses two images with shared parts or outlines, usually a human with features of a predator. The Lanzon deity has jaguar fangs and caiman talons, and its eyebrows and hair is represented through snakes. The fearsome Staff God also has the same downturned mouth with feline fangs. His head is multi-faced. The stacked headdress is composed of more cayman (also spelled caiman—which is an alligatoridae) faces terminated in curls and snake heads.

By flipping the stele, the god becomes benevolent as its headdress is transformed into a stack of smiling caiman faces. The visually confusing style creates a hierarchy between intimated believers who can see true form and those who cannot.

With an iconography of power symbols, the Chavin society uses art to expand its power and transitions from an egalitarian state (in which people are close to equal in status and power, and permanent leadership is rare) to a hierarchical state with differences in rights and power between segments of the population, and a strong, usually hereditary leadership.

Both objects survived the destruction of the caliphate and of the pre-Columbian Chavin civilization. While the new Christian owners of the pyxis and today’s Peruvians appreciate the artworks material value and technical excellence, their powerful grip on people was lost together, with most of their symbolism.

(5) 159. City of Cusco.

Inca. Andesite. 1440 CE; convent added 1550-1560. Inca.

Learning Objective: Inca political/religious space

Themes:

Civic religion
Architecture
Appropriation
Politics
Power
Status
Place of worship

City of Cusco is located in the central highlands, of Peru, at an elevation of 11,200 feet. The city was designed to look like a miniature Inca empire.

City of Cusco is divided into two sections. The north is where the upper class lived. The word for north is hanan. The south part of the city or hurin was where the lower classes lived.  The two sections were also further divided into quarters. This reflected the four corners of the empire. It takes on the shape of a puma/ jaguar, which is the royal animal of the Inca.

The masonry is special and unique to the region. Each individual stone is fitted uniquely to the one placed next to it. This results in blocks that have a varied number of sides. The goal is to keep each stone as true to its original shape as possible, but just flattened on the sides presented. This means the  blocks were not going to be like bricks.  Stones that are fitted this way allow for a small amount of movement. This is especially important in an earthquake-prone region. The modern city of Cusco is over a fault line.

Function of the City of Cusco  

• Capital of the Inca empire
• Civic center: religious; political; marketplace
• Believed to be an axis-mundi (especially the temple of Qorikancha)
• Way for Inca rulers to display their power and their ability to shape and order their empire
  • Like the Forbidden City or Trajan’s Forum

Content: 

• City-plan

SUB-IMAGE 1 (Curved Inka Wall of Qorikancha and Church of Santo Domingo)  

• Located on the heart of the puma
• Qorikancha means “Golden House”
• Most sacred of all Inca temples/shrines (axis-mundi)
• Dedicated to the worship of the sun and sun god Inti
• Center of the empire (like the sun in the universe) and everything radiated outward from it

The masonry technique was even more time-consuming than normal Inca fitted stonework. Rather than fitting each stone together and creating an irregular-looking surface, each stone was shaped into a rectangular block and polished to a smooth finish.

The walls were then covered in sheets of gold to signify the shrine’s dedication to Inti. This would have brilliantly reflected the sun’s rays and embodied the purpose of the building.

In front was a sculpture garden with reproductions of the world in miniature containing, people, animals, and plants.

After the Spanish conquest, Qorikancha was one of many shrines turned into a Christian space.

This was turned into the Church of Santo Domingo, named after Saint Dominic, the founder of Dominican order who emphasized conversions. It was built around and on top of the original shrine which was flattened except for one wall.

 

This symbolized appropriation and supremacy with the Spanish over the Inca and Christianity over the Inca religion. The new building was built in Spanish Baroque style, which was fashionable at the time.

SUB-IMAGE 2 (Walls at Saqsa Waman)

The Walls at Saqsa Waman walked down on the city of Cusco from the Northwest. The structure’s zig-zagging walls indicated its use as a fortress.

The stones were quarried and hauled into place using huge manpower. These were much larger than those used for streets and houses. This was defensive in function.

Francisco Pizarro was the Spaniard who conquered Inca.

Through his brother there is this description of the site. “On the top of a hill, they had a very strong fort surrounded with masonry walls of stones and having two very high round towers. In the lower part of this wall, there were stones so large and thick that it seemed impossible that human hands could have set them in place. They were so close together and so well fitted that the point of a pin could not have been inserted into one of the joints.”

 A Background History  

• 1438: the Empire was founded by Pachacuti
• 1440: the construction began
• 1532 – 1535: Inca were conquered by Francisco Pizarro

Rituals and Practices 

The most important rituals and practices occurred in this capital city. It was considered a religious space.

Young women were chosen from across the empire based on their virginity, beauty, nobility, and status to serve as “chosen women”. They prepared ritual food, maintained a sacred fire, wove garments for Inca rulers, made corn beer for rituals, served gods in shrines, and were given to Inca royalty or aristocrats in marriage.

Young men were brought to be educated and raised in Inca culture. They were indoctrinated into Inca culture since the empire was very vast and diverse. They became valuable advocates for Inca traditions.

Templo Mayor and the City of Cusco.

How religion influenced art. The expression of sacred across time and culture.

Both Tenochtitlan (founded in 1325 on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco) and the City of Cusco (11th – 12th century, rebuilt by Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui (1418–1471/1472) represent carefully planned urban and religious environments. Each is divided into four distinct parts which reflected the cosmos order and the power structures within the Aztec and Inca Empire.

The center of both religious precincts consisted of large plazas surrounded by ceremonial platforms. Their main temples, The Twin Towers of the Templo Mayor (Tenochtitlan, Mexico City 1375–1520 C.E.) and the Qorikancha (Cusco, c. 1440-1540) were considered axis mundi and were positioned at the center of their respective empires. The temples were subdivided between the main gods of each of the cultures. Thus, the north (right) side shrine of the Templo Mayor was associated with the mountain Tonacatepetl, i.e. the “Mountain of Sustenance” dedicated to Tlaloc, the god of rain and the other, on the south (left) side, was associated with the mountain Coatepetl, i.e. the “Serpent Mountain” dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, the god of war. At its turn Qorikancha contained the temples of Creator god Viracocha, the sun-god Inti, the moon goddess, the god of thunder, and the rainbow god, as well as a magnificent garden sculpted in good and silver, dedicated to the Sun-god.

The Qorikancha garden reproduced in precious metals (gold and silver) the variety of plants and animals that grew under the light of the Sun god and allowed the Incas to feed their empire. A special place in the garden was given to the maize. A preserved maize cobs sculpture shows to what extent the Inca metalworkers mimicked life-sized corns on the stalk.

While both temple’s stories were concerned with the Sun and the Moon mixing mythology with astronomy, the Aztec Serpent Mountain tells a much darker story. The key for deciphering the Temple Major story was the discovery of the Coyolxauhqui monolith, at the base of the stairs of the Serpent Temple. The large monolith, approximately 3.5 meters as diameter and weighing about 8 tones, represents a female deity “Coyolxauhqui, or Bells-on-her-face” carved in low relief. Her body adorned with an exquisite headdress and earrings is dismembered. Her bones are showing off and despite having the attributes of a mother (sagging belly, elongated breasts) she is shown in a humiliating nakedness.

Coyolxauhqui’s myth tells that after realizing that her mother Coatlicue, the earth, is magically pregnant with a new god, she became jealous and convinced her 400 brothers, the stars, to kill their mother. Still in his mother’s womb, the sun that was to be born perceived the threat and emerged ready for battle. He cut off the moon deity into pieces, which explained why the Moon was divided into quarters in the sky.

The temples also served as ceremonial centers. At Templo Major the ceremonies consisted in the public reenactment of the Coyolxauhqui’s death thrown down the mountain-stairs doubled by a blood and organs sacrifice in the bowl of the chacmool at the base of the Tlaloc side of the temple.

At Qorikancha the access to the temples was probably restricted to the Inca rulers., their families and high ranked officials. Only a gold statue represented Inti, as a small, seated boy, like Midday Sun, was brought out into the open air each day and returned in the night. However, 41 sacred sight lines (ceques) radiated as sun rays out of Qorikancha, four of them being the main 4 Inca 2 roads.  Shrines were placed along these lines and different noble families tended to and held rituals at the shrines throughout the year.

The Spanish conquistadores affected both Templo Mayor and the Qorikancha Temples of Cuzco in a similar way. The sacred precinct of Templo Mayor was completely buried underneath colonial buildings, behind the cathedral of the City of Mexico, while atop the Qorikancha site the conquistadores built the baroque Catholic Church of Santo Domingo maintaining only the Inca stone foundations. Despite the Spanish chronicles that reflect the admiration for the pre-existing Inca and Aztec temples, their destruction was carried out as a physical expression of a spiritual and political conquest.

This large-scale destruction can be understood in the context of the 1492 Spanish Reconquista, an event preceding the voyages of conquistadores. The Christian Spanish people fought with the Saracen kingdoms expulsing the Muslims and the Jews from Spain. In the reconquered territories the mosques (ex. Cordoba) were transformed into churches.

 

(5) 160. Maize cobs. 

Inca. 1400-1533 CE. Inca.

Learning Objective: Inca metalwork

Themes:

Offering
Religion
Ceremony
Nature
Propaganda
Materials with significance
Commemoration

Museum: Denver Art Museum

Maize cobs is a work made from sheet metal/repoussée, gold and silver. The vegetable replica measures 10 inches long.

Repoussé is a French  word meaning “to push back”.  It is a type of sculptural technique where the metal is beaten from the inside to leave raised designs on the surface.

Here, Inca metalsmiths expertly combined silver and copper to mimic the internal and external components of actual corn. Inca were known for their metalwork practice. They excelled at it. Silver metal was used for the corn. Gold metal was used for the husk. The life-sized husks are naturalistic in design.

Function

Maize cobs would have been in the Inca sculpture garden outside of the Temple of Qorikancha. The garden was used three times a year for rituals related to sowing and harvesting maize. All of these objects acted as a display of the Inti (sun god’s) power, as well as an offering of thanks.

The Art of Corn

This work illustrates the ripe ear of corn breaking through its husk. It is still on the stalk but ready to be harvested.  Individual kernels protrude.

This Work in Context

The garden contained sculpted llamas, corn, flowers, and people. All were life size, and all were made from gold and silver metal. The garden essentially became a narrative that the Inca empire told about themselves. It Illustrated their piety but also all the riches of the empire

After the Spaniards arrived in the Andes, the European invaders soon desired Inca gold and silver.

Some of the earliest Spanish chroniclers record the placement of a huge sculpture garden outside the Qorikancha. These Inca objects were looted in large quantities, and many were sent back to Spain. Maize cobs might have ended up as a gift to HRE Charles V. By 1534, his court records mention a gold maize stalk with three leaves and two ears of corn.

 Maize is corn that is blue or red but not yellow. It also represents the most important crop to the Inca. It was used for food, beer, and clothing.

(5) 161. City of Machu Picchu.

Inca. 1450-1540 CE. Inca.

Learning Objective: Inca palace

Themes

Domestic space
Architecture
Politics
Power
Status
Passage of time
Rulers
Religion
Man v. nature

City of Machu Picchu is in the Central highlands of Peru. Made of granite it measures roughly 530 by 200 meters. Sitting on a sacred mountain 8000 feet up, it overlooks the Urubamba River.

The granite was left unpainted and fitted with stone masonry techniques. Most structures were roofed with wood and thatch with straw and reeds.

There was one doorway/gate to access the site. This controlled movement and the view.

Terraces or flat gardens cut into the mountain side, were a common element of the Inca. This Increased arable land surface and allowed the Inca to be agricultural, even though there was no flat arable farmland available.

 Function

City of Machu Picchu was built as a royal estate for the first Inka emperor, Pachacuti. The emperor only lived here for a maximum of six months per year. It was intended as a place where the Inca could entertain, perform religious ceremonies, and administer the empire.

The city represented an expression of power and status.

The ability to command people across the empire to construct this was an expression of  the emperor’s power.  The modification of the landscape by shaving the off top of  the mountain, as well as the prediction of the sun, indicated he controlled nature. This legitimized his claim to the throne.

The site contained over 200 buildings in total with housing for elites, army, and staff. There were religious shrines, fountains, baths, astronomies, and terraces.

Most of the high-status residential buildings are in a cluster to the Northeast (right-hand side of main image). The royal section was separated on the Southwest side (the left-hand side of main image).

SUB-IMAGE 1 (Observatory)

The Observatory is adjacent to the royal residence (towers). It is composed of two main parts: an upper room with windows (likely symbolized the heavens) and a lower room with no windows (likely symbolized the underworld).

The windows in the upper room clearly reveal that they had been moved in the masonry. This may have been to position them to the most accurate placement to frame the summer solstice sunrise.

SUB-IMAGE 2 (Intihuatana Stone)

The term refers to the “hitching post of the sun”, as Inti means sun.

The carved boulder is in the ritual area of the site to the west of the main plaza. The stone’s name refers to the idea that it was used to track the passage of the sun throughout the year. Again, if the Inca ruler claimed to be a descendant of the sun, and he could track the sun, it would legitimize his claims that he had the right to rule.

The Background Points

• Not even excavated until 1911
• Location was approximately a three days’ walk from the Inca capital of Cusco
• Graves found on the site reveal a huge variety of people who lived and worked here.
• Inca rulers claimed to be descendants of the sun and therefore, they were considered gods on earth.

 

(5) 162. All-T’oqapu tunic.

Inca. 1450-1540 CE. Inca.

Learning Objective: Inca textile

Themes:

Textiles
Status
Politics
Power
Decorative arts
Rulers
Materials with significance
Propaganda

Museum: Dumbarton Oaks, Washington DC

All-T’oqapu tunic is made from camelid fiber and cotton. It measures 3 by 2.5 feet. Weaving was usually done with a series of sturdy sticks upon which the warp (skeletal threads of the textile) was woven. There are 100 threads per centimeter.

Cotton grew well in the empire along the coast. It was made into a variety of colors.

Camelids (remember Camelid sacrum?) thrived in the highlands (llamas and alpaca are camelids)

These animal fibers are dyed more easily than plant fibers. Dyes used included cochineal red that comes from the bodies of small insects that live on cactus. It takes thousands to make even just a small amount of dye. Another color is indigo blue which comes from a flower. Both dyes are extremely expensive.

Collecting, spinning, and dyeing fibers for a textile represented a huge amount of work. This as well as weaving was completed by women.

It was traditional to try to make a t’oqapu tunic in one single piece if possible. This would indicate the skill of the weaver and would avoid cutting the cloth, which was believed to damage its spiritual power.

Function

• Symbolizes the power/status of an Inca ruler
• Social power: signifies ruler’s ability to command empire to produce this; chosen women sew
• Political power: signifies one ruler’s control over this vast territory
• Cultural power: signifies one ruler’s unification of these various clans and tribes

• Military power: one of the t’oqapu (black and white checkerboard pattern) symbolizes the Inca military; shows that the army is an extension of the Inca ruler
• Material power: control of resources and statement of the wealth of the Inca empire (expensive dyes, vast amounts of fabric)
• Religious power: ruler is dressed like Vairococha (based on creation myth)

Content  

• T’oqapu: square geometric motifs that symbolize a particular noble family/clan/group (similar to a European family crest)
• T’oqapu tunics are only allowed to be worn by those of high rank
• An all-t’oqapu is only allowed to be worn by a ruler.
• It is a single piece of cloth, woven with slit in the center for the head to pass through (just like a poncho) with “sleeves” sewn along the side to close it up.

Context  

• Refers to an important Inca creation myth Viracocha (god) after creating humans sent out all the different peoples with their ethnic patterns painted on their bodies to keep order over them
• Textiles were the other major Inca artistic production (as well as metal work)
• Textiles were produced by “chosen women” who were collected across the empire for their virginity, beauty, and status to weave fine cloth.

 

Post-Columbian Art: Influenced by the Europeans

The European exploration and settlement of North, Central, and South America had a significant impact on the indigenous cultures, artwork, and architecture. When the Spanish conquerors entered the Mexica Empire and Tenochtitlan, they were amazed at the richness and beauty of the land. However, when they experienced the priests in the midst of bloodletting rituals and idol worship and covered in blood, they regarded the culture as a repulsive cult. They destroyed the religious symbols and illustrated books and tore down images of deities. Missionaries suppressed local beliefs and practices and worked to spread Christianity throughout the Americas.

In the Incan Empire, smallpox killed much of the population, including the emperor. Treasures like the Maize cobs that adorned an ornamental garden outside the Coricancha were taken back to Spain and melted down.

The Coricancha itself was stripped of its riches, consecrated as a Christian building, and the church of Santo Domingo built on top of it. These actions have made stratigraphic archaeology impossible, and archaeologists must rely on written ethnohistoric documents to help give cultural context to artworks.

(3) 81. Frontispiece of the Codex Mendoza

Viceroyalty of New Spain. 1541-1542.  Aztec; European.

Learning Objective: New Spanish illustrated manuscript

Themes:

Interpretation of history
Text and image
Power
Politics
Passage of time
Cross-cultural

Museum: Oxford University

Frontispiece of the Codex Mendoza is a manuscript book created with pigment on paper. The artists were indigenous and made these illustrations, in various styles, under the supervision of missionary priests. The Images were annotated in Spanish, by a priest that spoke Nahuatl.

There is no recession, or modeling, and the figures are stylized. There is a hierarchical scale, in that the Aztecs are larger than others figures. There is no correct proportion or scale.

Why the Codex was Made

In 1541, the first viceroy of New Spain , Antonio Mendoza, commissioned this codex to record information about the Aztec Empire. It was educational to aid him in understanding his new Aztec subjects and history of the region. It was also supposed to be a gift to HRE Charles V, to encourage him to fund exploration and show him more about the empire.

A Look Inside

A frontispiece is an illustration facing the title page of a book. The book contains a chronological and detailed history of Mexico City, especially of the founders and rulers. This included information about the organization and foundation of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan. A summary of tributes given by 33 provinces to the Aztecs is also in the book.

The work is insightful as it shows everyday lives of Aztecs from birth to death. Part of the book contained indigenous manuscripts and stories.

European Meets Aztec

The book format is European influenced. It has a linear organization that creates a clear historical order. Each page is one idea or subject, as per the European desire for order and categorize.

The Aztec influence illustrates the settlement of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec conquest and Aztec defeat all in one. This was common to depict multiple scenes or narratives in one image.

The Image

This shows the diagram of Tenochtitlan, with the city divided into four parts, representing the actual four canals that divided the city. The Aztecs believed the world was divided into four eras and four regions – north, south, east, west– with the Aztecs at the center.

In the center is an eagle on a cactus, growing from a rock.  The simple structure above the eagle symbolizes the Templo Mayor. This would have been at the center of the city. Below the cactus and stone is a war shield, indicating the Aztecs had to conquer this land.

Different types of plants, especially maize, dot the city’s four quadrants. This references the agricultural fertility associated with the city. Ten men are depicted in the four quadrants, wearing white garments and top knots. These are the leaders of the ten clans that comprised the Aztecs, who led the people to the island. Their name glyphs are attached to them.

On the left triangle at point is a priest with a red ear and ash colored skin. This is a symbol of ritual bloodletting. In the register at the bottom are two scenes of military conquest of the early Aztec settlements.

On the border glyphs are used that indicate years. The one with a dagger above it indicated the  first year of the new 52-year cycle,  at the start of which human sacrifice must occur. Glyphs indicate years through which Spanish takeover happened.

A Historical View

Tenochtitlan was established in the middle of Lake Texcoco, in the Valley of Mexico,  in 1325. According to Aztec myth, the patron deity Huitzilopochtli told the Aztecs to leave their ancestral home and look for a place where they saw an eagle, atop a cactus, growing from a rock. That was where they should settle and build a city.

Aztecs were conquered by Spanish in 1519-1521. Viceroyalty of New Spain was established.

Viceroy Antonio Mendoza intended to send the codex to the Spanish king HRE Charles V. While the book was on a Spanish ship to Spain, French pirates captured the ship and took the goods on board. The codex ended up in France,  where it was sold. It was acquired by Andre Thevet, the cosmographer to King Henry II of France. Thevet wrote his name on several pages.

 

Native North American Art

Native North America denotes traditionally oriented cultures north of the United States–Mexico border from ancient times to the present, with an emphasis on the period from 1492 century to today. Native North America has many regional subunits, such as the Northwest Coast,  Southwest,  Plains, and  Eastern Woodlands.  

The various Native American groups may be seen to share larger ideas of harmony with nature, oneness with animals, respect for elders, community cohesion, dream guidance, shamanic leadership, and participation in large rituals, such as potlatches and sun dances.

Post-contact art not only reflects these long- standing values, but it is also concerned with the history of conflict within tribes and between indigenous people and the U.S. and Canadian governments.

Indians, Native Americans, North American Indians (in the United States), and First Nations (in Canada) are nonindigenous terms for the indigenous peoples. These people were inhabiting areas north of what is now the United States– Mexico border, from ancient times to the present. They did not have a collective name for themselves, being many different tribes and nations.

(5) 156. Great Serpent Mound.

Mississippian (Eastern Woodlands). Earthwork/effigy mound. 1070 CE. Mississippian.

Learning Objective: Native American earthwork

Themes:

Animals in art
Passage of time
Earthwork
Nature
Site-specific

Great Serpent Mound is an earthwork/effigy mound located in Adams County, southern Ohio. It measures 1,348 feet long and 3 feet tall.

Earthwork refers to mounds that are deliberately made into decorative or representational shapes and made of earth. The head is at the northeast. The tail is roughly located in the southwest. There are seven winding coils in between.

Function

Essentially, we are looking at a Native American version of Stonehenge. The head aligns with the summer solstice sunset or longest day of the year. Tail points to the winter solstice sunrise or shortest day of the year. The curves of the body parallel lunar phases.

Perhaps this was used to mark time or seasons. Maybe it was made to indicate when to plant and when to harvest. It also may have been used as a kind of compass in alignment with the Pole Star.

The size is significant and must have had some desire to impress or amaze. Consider other large works like Bayeux Tapestry, Night Attack at Sanjo Palace, Trajan’s column. The size shows time, intricacy, power, supremacy.

There were no burials here.

Content

This one depicts a serpent. Others are smaller but depict bears and deer. Great Serpent Mound is the largest serpent sculpture in the world.

The curled snake that has either an open mouth with wide jaw about to eat an egg, or a large, stylized eye. The egg by the head of the serpent is perhaps a representation of the sun. This might also symbolize a solar eclipse (eating the sun). The Shape of the serpent symbolizes the constellation Draco.

Context

Agriculture in the Midwest US region led to a population boom. Numerous mounds were made by Native American cultures who lived here. Many were destroyed as white American settlers expanded and Native Americans here did not have written records.

Baffled archaeologists point out the total shape can only be gathered from the air or a high vantage point, neither of which the Indians would have possessed. How exactly would Natives have appreciated it? Why make it so big?

Many native cultures in this region attributed supernatural powers to snakes or reptiles.

 

(5) 154. Mesa Verde cliff dwellings.

Anasazi. 450-1300 CE. Anasazi.

Learning Objective: Anasazi domestic space

Themes:

Domestic space
Man vs. nature
Civic
Community
Architecture
Site-specific

Mesa Verde cliff dwellings located in Montezuma County, Colorado, are built into the side of a cliff and are made from sandstone from the canyon. Stone and mud mortar,  along with wooden beams were used to help raise multiple stories.

These are not the only cliff dwellings but the best-preserved examples of cliff dwellings.

Function

These cliff dwellings were used as a domestic space and civic spaces or residential dwelling that were used for storage and ritual.  They generally housed between 125 to 250 people.

Clans lived together for defence and support. Having homes set under the side of the cliff provided protection from sun and snow.

The Set Up

Cliff dwellings were known as pueblos (communal villages of flat-roofed structures that are made of stacked stone). Each family had one room and there were about 150 in total.

Some pueblos were five to six stories tall. The top houses stored supplies. Here it was cool, dry, out of the way, and only accessible by ladders.

Kivas or rounded and sunken rooms, with wood-beamed roofs,  were  situated across the site. There were 20 in total. These were meeting rooms for civic and religious gatherings.

Context

Ancestral Puebloans occupied this region from about 450 CE to 1300 CE.

NOTE: The dates that AP provides are the dates for which the Anasazi (tribe) occupied this area, NOT the dates of the construction of the site.

These communities were comprised of sedentary farmers who cultivated beans, squash, and corn.

From 450 – 1200s, farmers lived above the canyon and lived near their crops.

By the 13^th century things changed. Farmers moved into the canyons and began to construct pueblos. This made things difficult as food and water had to be transported into the canyon, as the fields were now many miles away.

Why did they move? Did the cliffs provide protection from invaders? Did the canyon provide ceremonial or spiritual significance? Did the canyon provide significant protection from environmental elements?

The cliffs were eventually abandoned in 1300 CE. It is not clear as to why. Was there drought? A lack of resources, or violence? Or some combination?

 

European Influence on Native American Art

In Native North America, experts believe that almost 90 percent of the indigenous population died from illnesses introduced by Europeans.

Many groups traded war prisoners as slaves, and the introduction of European materials influenced how the indigenous cultures lived and the artwork they produced. European influence affected the content and materials of the Native North Americans to the point that what is now considered traditional is constantly changing.

Centuries of interaction with colonial and migrant peoples means that some imported materials like glass beads, machine-made cloth, and ribbon are now considered traditional. Likewise, in subject matter, the Spanish-introduced horse has become a cultural and artistic staple, alongside the indigenous buffalo, raven, and bear.

Archaeologists must rely on alternative sources of information for Native North American art, including oral and written tribal history, written ethnohistoric documents, modern artists’ accounts and interviews, and museum records. Historical sources may be inaccurate depending on whether native or European sources are used.

European influence is inevitable but may be subtle. What is considered traditional is constantly changing. There is no singular, timeless, authentic Native American art, or practice.

 

(5) 163. Bandolier bag.

Lenape (eastern Delaware) tribe. Beadwork on leather. Prairie Style.

Learning Objective: Native American bag

Themes:

Decorative arts
Cross-cultural
Status
Utilitarian
Appropriation
Materials with significance

Museum: Milwaukee Public Museum

Bandolier bag is a crafted bag made with beadwork on leather. It measures 2 feet by 1 foot and 6 inches.

 

Thousands of tiny beads were strung together and then sewn onto the bag. These glass beads are known as seed beads and are prized for their brilliant color and tiny form.

The bag is also decorated with silk ribbons in yellow, blue, red, green, and orange. Each are various lengths.

A thick strap crossing from one edge of the bag to the other side allows it to rest over a person’s shoulder and sit on the hip

A Utilitarian Function

• Original function: Used by French army to hold extra ammunition
• 2^nd function: Used by French fur traders in the NW United States to hold extra ammunition
• Native American function: Worn as a cross-body bag mostly by men
  • Pockets weren’t necessarily used to hold objects.
  • More importantly, the design helped to express group identities and social status.

Notes of Interest

Each bag is unique, often large in size and decorated with a wide array of colorful beads and ribbons. The contrasting colors might symbolize sky versus the underworld. The four-pronged/pointed flowers or stars might indicate the four cardinal directions and a connection to the earth.

The Prairie Style uses colorful glass seed beads to make floral patterns.

Context

• Due to the Indian Removal Act of 1830 (signed by President Andrew Jackson), many tribes were forcibly removed from these ancestral lands and relocated to Oklahoma and Wisconsin.
  • Lenape were one of those tribes.
• Tribes continued to create these bags however they were exposed to a variety of other Native American tribes that were not familiar with this art. A diffusion of design and style called Prairie Style evolved post 1830s (Midwest tribes: floral designs + Eastern tribes: seed beads and bags)
• Women created these bags.
• Cross-cultural influence: not only did the shape and style of bag come from Europeans, but the seed beads and silk ribbons were acquired from European traders.
  • Native Americans had never seen glass or brilliant color the way they saw them in the beads or ribbon.
  • Native Americans often traded land for beads/ribbons.
  • Europeans thought beads/ribbons were cheap and that they were getting better end of the deal.

 

(5) 164. Transformation mask.

 Kwakwaka’wakw, Northwest coast of Canada. Late 19^th century. CE.

Learning Objective: Native American mask

Themes:

Mask
Status
Deities
Animals in art
Religion
Cross-cultural
Ceremony
Technology
Ancestors
Materials with significance

Museum: Quai Branly Museum

The Transformation mask made by the Kwakwaka’wakw, in the Northwest coast of Canada is designed from wood, paint, and string. The wood chosen was red cedar, which was readily available, dense, and strong. The red color was linked to salmon, blood, sun, and fire, which were all considered sacred. Traditional colors also included black, white, and green.

This work was created prior to European contact and carved using hand tools and natural pigments. After European contact, practices changed. Masks were then carved using metal tools. Brighter and synthetic colors were introduced.

The style is referred to as formline. The word formline was coined in 1965 to describe the Northwest Coast visual culture. Masks, whether opened or closed, were bilaterally symmetrical. Here, there is a use of undulating, calligraphic black line and the eyes are ovoid shapes.

How was this Mask Used?

Masks were worn at potlatch or dance/ceremonies, which were performed by firelight and were used for special occasions to show birth, initiation, marriage, and death. They also aided to honor or interact with ancestors or spiritual beings as a totem or connection.

At the end of the dance, the mask was opened and it transforms into a different animal. During the potlatch, the dancer is transformed into the spirit represented on the mask.

Masks were part of story telling and were used to re-enact myths describing human origins. Humans were animals who shed their skins and danced to reveal human form. Only men who were initiated into the tribes could wear the mask.

Masks also were a show of social rank and a mark of status by asserting relationships with the spirit world. These objects also displayed the importance of a family or clan and were given as gifts to show wealth and high status.

The Background Story

The Transformation mask, would have been worn with a red cedar bark cloak. Masks were personal to the wearer and the wearer’s family. Figures depicted on them represent the dancer’s ancestral/spiritual counterparts

A Closer Look at this Mask.

• Closed:
  • Raven head (father’s clan)
    • Ravens are creator of physical world, bringer of light, tricksters (intellectual/secret knowledge but use it to play tricks on others)
  • Open:
    • Human face and two snakes on each side (snakes: mother’s clan)
      • Snakes: associated with protection of warriors
      • Creation myth referenced with human face inside animal’s head

Context

• A 1,000-year-old tradition (9^th – 19^th)
• Introduction of Christianity and colonization of Canada and US affected masking
• Potlatches were banned in 1885 until 1951 by the Canadian government
  • Considered immoral by Christian missionaries who believed cannibalism occurred
  • Many masks were confiscated and destroyed

 

(5) (165) Painted elk hide.

Attributed to Cotsiogo (Cadzi Cody), Eastern Shoshone, Wind River Reservation, 1890 – 1900

Learning Objective: Native American hide painting

Themes:

Religion
Animals in art
Appropriation
Ceremony
Commercial
Interpretation of history
Materials with significance

Painted elk hide is a work attributed to Cotsiogo (Cadzi Cody) from the Eastern Shoshone, Wind River Reservation, Wyoming.  It is made from painted elk hide.  

 Cotsiogo (co SEE ko)

In Native American art elk, deer and buffalo hides were traditionally used to minimize the waste of animals by using all the parts. Natural pigments were used such as red ochre or chalk. Any used synthetic paints and dyes were obtained from Euro-Americans.

The Imagery was done with free-hand painting and some stenciling. There is a sense of flattened and negative space. The work is stylized and in simple form with no modeling.

Multipurpose Art

 Creations such as Painted elk hide were made for wall hangings and for robes, as well as being a sign of status.  Hide paintings were traditional artworks for Plains Indians and depicted religious scenes, major events, tribal designs, or affiliations. The content would change depending on the audience.

Later these works were created for those interested in Native culture and life as well as tourists. Popular themes for these buyers include buffalo hunts, as well as Native Americans on horseback and in teepees.

Artmaking for Native Americans is a way of keeping traditions alive.

Scenes of Celebration and Daily Life

Three Dances

Sun Dance is an important, sacred dance. It surrounds a not-yet-raised buffalo head between two poles with an eagle above it. Dancers dance around the pole as a celebration of the renewal of life, earth, and people. It honors the Creator.

Grass Dance involves men dancing around poles to bless the land.

Wolf Dance is a non-religious dance that celebrates warriors on horses returning to camp. It is about the power and prestige of warriors.

Scenes of daily life are shown

• Women rest near a fire
• Men hunt for buffalo and some wear feathered war bonnets to depict bravery.
• Two teepees represent the camp

The Background Story

The hide depicts past events and vibrancy of Native American life, rather than current reality. It shows them hunting with bows and arrows, but by the time this art was created, they used rifles, introduced by Euro-Americans. Additionally, Native Americans didn’t live out in plains, but they lived on reservations.

Horses are not native to North America. They had been introduced by the Spaniards and arrived in the Midwest via trade.

Buffalo were sacred. By the time Cotsiogo painted this, they had almost been entirely killed off.

Sadly, the Sun Dance had been outlawed by the US Government to compel the Native Americans to abandon their traditional ways.

About the Artist

During his life Cotsiogo (1866-1912) was placed on the Wind River Reservation. He was the son of Washakie, a renowned Shoshane leader. As one of the first commercial artists among his tribe. He enjoyed artistic pursuits as they satisfied his curiosity.

Although the Sun Dance was outlawed at the time, he likely added the images because he knew it was a subject that tourists were interested in. Yet, he modified it to include the Wolf Dance to avoid ramifications.

 

(5) 166. Black on black ceramic vessel.

Maria Martinez and Julian Martinez. Mid-20^th-century CE. Blackware ceramic.

Learning Objective: Native American pottery (revival)

Themes:

Decorative arts
Innovation
Ceramics
Materials with significance
Revival of tradition
Commercial

Museum: National Museum of Women in the Arts

Black on black ceramic vessel crafted by Maria Martinez and Julian Martinez was created in Tewa, Puebloan, and San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico.

All raw materials had to be gathered and processed carefully so the vessel could be fired properly.

They pioneered a style of applying a matte-black design over polished-black. By doing this they were able to recreate what ancestors had done before them.

Making This Work 

• Take local iron rich clay
• Mix with powder from shards of broken pots + volcanic ash + water
• Make shape of pot by hand, without a potter’s wheel
• Dry vessel
• Scrape, sand, smooth
• Cover with slip (clay + water)
• Slip is polished by rubbing a smooth stone over the surface to flatten the clay and create a shiny finish. A difficult and time-consuming process.
• Pot was painted with designs with an iron-rich solution by using iron ore or guaco, which is a wild plant.

The Firing Process

• Pots were dried, then fired at high temperatures to change brittle clay to ceramics
• No kilns used, but fire was hot enough it could be made with manure
• Smothering the fire with powdered manure during the firing removed the oxygen while retaining the heat and this resulted in a pot that was blackened with areas without slip turning shiny black, and areas with slip turning matte black
• Achieving the deepest shades of black required about six firings.

Function

This work was created to revive traditions of Puebloan pottery making in New Mexico. This also helped to reframe Native pottery as fine art, instead of promoting it as utilitarian. To aide this, she began to sign her name on the bottom of the pots. This made her name the brand, but it also denied the communal nature of the pot. However, she began to make more money per pot.

The buyers were those that had interest in Native art, mainly white Americans. Soon, she began to sell the pots to major art galleries.

Content

• San Ildefonso style: based on 12^th-17^th century Puebloan ceramic shards (based on Neolithic designs) that had recently been discovered in excavations
• Two design registers: one across the shoulder/body and one across the neck
• Elements are abstract, but are probably depicting natural motifs
• Shape, color, and design match the contemporary and geometric Art Deco movement, popular between the two WWs

Historical Context

Before the arrival of the railroad to this area in the 1880s, pots were used for food storage, cooking, and ceremonies. When inexpensive pots appeared along the railroad, Native practices declined. The introduction of tin and metal meant cheaper, easier to make, sturdier pots.

About the Artists

Maria Martinez is one of the best-known Native potters in part due to her connections with a larger, non-Native audience. She lived at the Pueblo of San Ildefonso from 1887 to 1980. This is located 20 miles north of Santa Fe.

She spoke Tewa, the language of the Pueblo culture. Martinez learned the ceramic techniques by watching potters from San Ildefonso. Also, she and her husband Julian were present at the excavations in their community. They drew designs that they found on pottery shards.

Making pottery had traditionally been a communal activity, where different steps in the process were shared. Maria formed the vessels by hand. Julian would decorate and paint the pots.

Traditionally, because making pots were communal, they were never signed.