Conquistadors: Native Arts of the Americas after 1300
	Mesoamerica :: South America :: North America
	MESOAMERICA After destruction of Teotihuacán and the abandonment of the southern Maya sites, new cities arose to take their places. Notable were the Maya city of Chichén Itzá in Yucatán and Tula, the Toltec capital. Their dominance was relatively short lived, however, and neither city left extensive written records. Thus, Mesoamerican history in the early Postclassic period (ca. 900-1250) is less well documented than that of earlier groups. The history of the cultures that succeeded them in the late Postclassic period (ca. 1250-1521), however, is better known. Mixteca-Puebla The art of the book: The Mixtecs succeeded the Zapotec at Monte Albán after 700. They became renowned for their work in gold as well as turquoise mosaics. Seven Mixtec books survive, largely genealogical and historical in content. The Postclassic Maya had libraries of painted books with hieroglyphic texts of which only four survive. The Borgia Codex: One page of The Borgia Codex shows the god of life, the black Quetzalcóatl, and the god of death, the white Mictlantecuhtli. Below is an inverted skull, a symbol of the Underworld. The image conveys the joining of opposites and the relationship of life and death, an important theme in Mesoamerican art. Symbols of the 20 days of the 260-day Mesoamerican ritual calendar appear in the margins. 30-1: Mictlantecuhtli and Quetzalcóatl, illuminated page from the Borgia Codex, from Puebla/Tlaxcala (?), Mexico, ca. 1400-1500. Mineral and vegetable pigments on deerskin, approx. 10 5/8" X 10 3/8". Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Rome. Mictlantecuhtli, Borgia Group Codexes Tlazolteotl, Borgia Group Codexes Xochiquetzal, Borgia Group Codexes Mayahuel, Borgia Group Codexes Chalchiuhtlicue, Borgia Group Codexes Cihuateteo, Borgia Group Codexes Itzpapalotl, Borgia Group Codexes Chantico, Borgia Group Codexes Borgia Codex Aztec The rise of the Aztecs: The destruction of Tula in about 1200 and the disintegration of the Toltec Empire began a century of anarchy. Northern invaders, the Aztecs, gradually organized into city-states, acquiring the Toltec culture. Their magnificent city of Tenochtitlán was laid out on a grid plan, reminiscent of Teotihuacán, which had become a pilgrimage site for the Aztecs. The Aztecs believed they had a divine mission to propagate the cult of their tribal god, Huitzilopochtli, the hummingbird god of war. Aztec statecraft used the gods and human sacrifice to achieve and maintain political dominion. Tenochtitlán: Capital of an Empire: The ruins of the Aztec capital lie beneath the center of Mexico City. The principal building in the "sacred precinct" is the Templo Mayor (Great Temple), a temple-pyramid honoring the Aztec god Huitzilopochtli and the local rain god Tlaloc. Two staircases led to the double sanctuaries at the summit. The Great Temple is an example of superimposition, a common trait in Mesoamerica. 30-2: Reconstruction drawing with cutaway view of various rebuildings of the Great Temple, Aztec, Tenochtitlán, Mexico City, Mexico, ca. 1400-1500. C = Coyolxauhqui stone (FIG. 30-3). Reconstruction model of the great Temple Eagle Warrior Aztec manuscripts Coyolxauhqui dismembered: The Temple of Huitzilopochtli at Tenochtitlán commemorated the god's victory over his brothers and sister. The myth signifies the sun's conquest of the stars and the moon. The dismembering of the moon goddess is depicted on a huge stone disk, placed at the foot of the staircase. The image proclaimed the power of the Aztec gods over their enemies and their inevitable fate when defeated. In the carefully balanced design, richly detailed components seem to revolve like a galaxy. The carving is the sculptural equivalent of the line and flat tone characteristic of Mesoamerican painting. 30-3: Coyolxauhqui (She of the Golden Bells), Aztec, from the Great Temple of Tenochtitlán, Mexico City, ca. 1469. Stone, diameter approx. 10' 10". Museo del Templo Mayor, Mexico City. Coyolxauhqui similar example (relief sculpture) similar example similar example Coatlicue beheaded: In a colossal statue of Coatlicue, ancient earth mother of the gods Huitzilopochtli and Coyolxauhqui, the main forms are carved in high relief, with details executed either in low relief or by incising. The beheaded goddess is composed of an inventory of gruesome objects, which symbolize sacrificial death. Like most Aztec deities, Coatlicue has both masculine and feminine traits. This goddess combined savagery and tenderness, for out of destruction arose new life, a theme seen earlier at Teotihuacán. 30-4: Coatlicue (She of the Serpent Skirt), Aztec, from Tenochtitlán, Mexico City, ca. 1487-1520. Andesite, 11' 6" high. Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City. Coatlicue Coatlicue Coatlicue The Aztec achievement: The Aztecs appropriated the best artworks and most talented artists of conquered territories. The Aztecs sponsored craftspeople and artists from other areas, who created pottery, goldwork, turquoise mosaics, and terracotta sculpture. The sculptural style of the Aztecs is also unsurpassed. Unfortunately, much Aztec art did not survive the Spanish conquest. The Aztecs' own sculptural style is unsurpassed. Cortés and Moctezuma The Spanish conquerors found impossible to reconcile the beauty of the great city of Tenochtitlán with what they regarded as hideous cults. The conquerors venerated the cross and the Virgin, triumphant, in new shrines raised on the ruins of plundered temples of the ancient American gods, and the banner of the Most Catholic King of Spain waved over new atrocities of a European kind.
	Mesoamerica :: South America :: North America