AZTEC ART 1325-1521

Cuauhtli-Cuauhxicalli, (Eagle gourd

vessel)Literally meaning "eagle gourd vessel" the cuauhxicalli was the vessel in which the Aztecs made their most sacred offerings, human hearts.

Real gourds, as finely as carved stone objects, may have been used as cuauhxicallis at the time of the Conquest.

Temple Stone Represents the Aztecs as the legitimate power in the Valley of Mexico.

In its form the monument combines elements of a temple and a royal throne

The entire monument symbolizes the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, rising from Lake Tetzcoco.

For the Aztecs, a main temple of a city represented the city’s symbol. Temples were shaped in the form of pyramids symbolizing the mountains, where fertility and creation happens, where the wombs of creation are kept.

May have been used as an actual throne for Moctezuma II.

Bas reliefs include: Aztec solar disk, Huitzilopochtli, gods and human kings drawing autosacrifice.

The relief on the back of Moctezuma's Throne , the eagle standing on a cactus that emerges from the reclining body of a goddess and with lines behind that suggest water, is an elaborate version of the name glyph for Tenochtitlan.

In the Aztec migration legend, Huitzilopochtli told the Aztecs to settle where they saw an eagle land upon a cactus growing in a lake.

The whole monument therefore represents the city of Tenochtitlan, rising from lake Texcoco.

Stone of the Sun

10 feet in diameter X 3 feet thick

Medium: Basalt

Weight: 25 tons.

• Monument to the Sun

• Represents human sacrifice related to the cult of Tonatiuh, god of the Sun

• Representation of the 5th Sun that we currently live in, which was created in Teotihuacan.

• Symbolizes the destruction of the Fifth Sun and acts as a celebration for the creation of the world where the forces of creation and destruction play equal roles.

• Center: Tonatiuh (god of the Sun for the 5th world)

• Four flanges show the names of the four previous creations, Four Jaguar, Four Wind, Four Rain, Four Water

• Adjacent to the flanges, the four cardinal directions

• 20 days of the month are shown

• Two fire serpents that encompass the Sun stone.

Stone of Tizoc

The stone depicts the victories of Tizoc, the emperor during 1481-86, and is a masterpiece of intricate stone carving.

These stones were probably used for gladiator sacrifices of important captured warriors. Also used as a cuauhxicallis, where the hearts of the sacrificed victims were deposited.

King Tizoc is depicted as the god Tezcatlipoca and his conquests are glorified in stone. Tizoc is the only person wearing a hummingbird helmet of the god Huitzilopochtli.

The frieze between the two borders portrays 15 Aztec warriors holding captive victims by the hair.

The top of the cylinder is a sun disk with 8 rays.

CoatilcueHeight= 9ft tall. Monumental sculpture

Depictions of Coatlicue are fairly rare in Aztec art.

Standing on huge taloned feet, Coatlicue wears a dress of woven rattlesnakes. Her pendulous breasts are partially obscured behind a grisly necklace of severed hearts and hands.

Writhing coral snakes appear in place of her head and hands, denoting gouts of blood gushing from her throat and wrists.

The two great snakes emerging from her neck face one another, creating a face of living blood.

A monument of cosmic terror, Coatlicue stands violated and mutilated, her wounds mutely demanding revenge against her enemies.

The Head of Coyolxauhq

ui In this case, Coyolxauhqui is represented as a lifeless severed head.

As in the case of the intact disk from Templo Mayor, she displays on her cheeks the coyolli bells for which she is named.

Flowing down her nose is blood styalized as serpents. This probably refers to a necessity to feed the gods with human sacrifice provided by warfare.

In addition, she also wears the same metal year sign ear ornaments and circular elements of the eagle down in her hair.

This piece is a complete statue.

Xochipilli The god of flowers, music, dance and feasting.

Whether the statue depicts a priest wearing the mask of Xochipilli or whether the statue depicts the god himself is unclear.

His posture suggests he is a hypnotical trance of hallucinogenic ecstasy.

The carvings on his knees and the pedestal are the glyphs of the teonanacatl, the sacred hallucinogenic mushrooms. In diverse parts of his body are representations of other enteogenic flowers like tobacco.

On the sides of the pedestals are blossoming flowers with butterflies drinking the nectar in the center representing the blossoming of the universe.

Quetzalcoatl This sculpture portrays a snake in a coiled position with its jaw fully opened to reveal the sharpness of its teeth. This figure represents Quetzalcoatl.

The feathered serpent gave humans the knowledge of agriculture and of art, fundamental for their survival and the development of their soul, and the piece pays homage to his role in fertility, renewal and transformation.

Huehueteotl

Old Fire GodOne of the most ancient deities

of Mesoamerica.

He is always portrayed, like in this image, as a seated god with the hands on the knees, the right hand opened, and the left hand closed like a first.

His face is wrinkled and his mouth is toothless just like an old man.

His face is almost hidden by a mask and his mouth has fangs, he has a great necklace with a large pendant that adorns the chest, and he also has big ear-flares.

Cihuateotl The Aztecs believed that two groups of supernaturals accompanied the sun on its passage from the east to the west. In the east, souls of warriors who died in combat exhorted and accompanied the sun as it rose to midday zenith. In the corresponding western sky ( the place of solar descent) were the Cihuateotl, or women gods. The Cihuateotl were female warriors, women who died in childbirth. The Aztecs likened the act of birth to that of obtaining a captive in war, women who died in the attempt were valiant warriors slain in battle. Known as benevolent mothers, the Cihuateotl wreaked havoc, and it was they that haunted crossroads at night to steal children and to cause seizures and insanity.

In addition, these night demons could seduce men and cause them to commit adultery and other sexual transgressions.

Eagle warriorClay sculpture Very few human-scale clay images are known from Prehispanic Mesoamerica: this may be due to the technical difficulties presented by the manufacture of statues of this size. Each figure was made in four sections. The head with eagle helmet has a tenon which fits into a mortise in the second portion, consisting of the torso with bent and extended arms displaying eagle’s wings. Eagle claws were modeled on the calves of the figure, while remains of the white clay on the upper leg area represented feathered warriors.

The two leading military orders in Aztec society, the Jaguar Knights and Eagle Knights, were made up of the bravest soldiers of noble birth and those who had taken the greatest number of prisoners in battle. The "Eagles" were soldiers of the sun, for the eagle was the symbol of the sun. These images stood guard over the precinct that was probably the sanctum sanctorum of the eagle military order.

MictlancihuatliGod of the Dead Mictlantecuhtli lived in a damp and cold place known as Mictlan, which was the underworld, a universal womb where human remains were kept.

The god is shown wearing a loincloth and small holes in his scalp indicate that at one time, curly human hair decorated his head, typical of earth and death god figurines.

His claw-like hands are poised as if ready to attack someone.

Most dramatically, he is represented with his flesh wide-open below his chest where a giant liver appears. According to the Aztec, they believed that the liver was where the human soul dwells.

Xipe Totec Xipe Totec was the god of vegetation and agricultural renewal.

For his celebration sacrificed bodies were flayed and priests wore the skins for 20 days.

He is depicted in the sculpture as a man with a flayed skin.

A rope, sculpted in detail, ties the skin at the back, head, and chest.

This piece forms part of a series of great images created by Pre-Columbian artists, who expressed their deeply held belief that only through death can life exist.

Tlaloc Vase

To the Aztecs, Tlaloc was known as "the provider" and depending on the rains, could be either generous or miserly.

One of the Dual temples upon the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan was dedicated to Tlaloc, and this side of the pyramid was apparently considered as his mountain abode.

Tlaloc, the rain and lightning god of the Aztecs, is one of the most common deities at Teotihuacan and often appears with lightning, maize, and water.

Like Postclassic examples, Tlaloc typically has goggled eyes and large, jaguar teeth or fangs.

Funerary urn with image of Tezcatlipoca Tezcatlipoca (smoking mirror) is the protector of warriors, kings and sorcerers.

Contains the cremated bones of Aztec warriors who probably died in battle against the Tarascans of Michoacán. A necklace of beads, a spear point, and a bone perforator were also inside.

On the urn lies the image of Tezcatlipoca surrounded by a feathered serpent with a forked tongue. Wearing a headdress full of eagle feathers, symbols connected to the sun, the deity seems to be armed and ready for battle.

Aztec Atlantean Warrior

This group of five colossal sculptures of warriors represent the Aztec vision of the universe, inspired by the famous Toltec Atlantes of Tula.

They represent the fourth cardinal directions.

They represent warriors who support the creations of the gods by military actions.

They have the butterfly pectoral of the Toltec warriors.

Penacho de Moctezuma

Because of their role in elite and ritual costumes, quetzal feathers were an important element in Mesoamerica.

The famous headdress housed in Vienna that is often called Moctezuma's Headdress included 500 hundred quetzal feathers.

Other evidence indicates that such headdresses existed and were part of royal or ritual regalia; on the Stone of Tizoc the ruler shown in the battle dress wears a hummingbird helmet with a great quetzal-feather crown.

Ahuitzol Shield(feathered

shield) Shield was a gift from Hernan Cortes to a bishop in Spain.

Its an assemblage of different types of feathers, including feathers from scarlet macaws, blue cotingas, rose spoonbills and yellow orioles, tassels of feathers hang from the lower edge. Vegetable fibers hold together the base of reed splints that supports the colorfully arranged plumage.

The shield portrays the figure of Coyotl warrior in gold and feathers. The coyote was associated to warfare and military Aztec order.

Fire Water comes pouring out of his mouth indicating that he is shouting a call or song of war.

Double Headed

Turquoise Serpent Pectoral

Pectoral featuring a double-headed and intertwined serpents associated with Quetzalcoatl.

Their jaws are open, symbolizing the caves of Mictlan, gateways to the underworld.

The whole piece is a wooden base covered with turquoise mosaic inlays making it look as blue as the sky. The noses, gums, and teeth of the reptiles are inlaid with white and red shells.

Double headed and intertwined serpents were icons in Mesoamerican art that represented the sky. The serpents were a symbol of renewal since they shed their skin.

It is believed that a priest or noble wore this pectoral in rituals connected to the birth of Huitzilopochtli.

Anthromorphic Flint/ Sacrificial

KnivesThe personified flint knives with faces on both sides were symbolic of sacrifice. This particular knife is decorated with applied pieces of turquoise, obsidian, and shell arranged as teeth and eyes on a painted blade.

Knives were recovered from Offering 52 on the Huitzilopochtli side of the Templo Major.

Offerings to Huitzilopochtli contained a variety of items symbolic of power and strength. The offering included symbols of human sacrifice such as braziers with knotted bones, knives, and human skulls as well many objects from tribute-paying regions of the Aztec empire.

Unlike the offerings dedicated to Tlaloc, those to Huitzilopochtli contained no images of the god.

Labret, Serpent with Articulated Tongue

Obsidian Ear Ornament