ART OF THE AMERICAS AFTER 1300 AZTECS Tenochtitlan and the Codex Mendoza The Great Pyramid Religious Sculpture: iconography and style Featherwork INCAS Masonry techniques Machu Picchu: city-sanctuary Textiles: between fashion and writing

The Aztec Empire “When we saw so many cities and villages built on the

water and other great towns and that straight and level causeway going towards

[Tenochtitlan], we were amazed … on account of the great towers and

[temples] and buildings raising from the water, and all built of masonry.

And some of our soldiers even asked whether the things that we saw were not a dream”

http://www.history.com/videos/the-aztecs#ask-history-

what-happened-to-the-aztecs

The Founding of Tenochtitlan, from Codex

Mendoza. Aztec, 16th century. Ink and color on

paper, h. 12 3/8, University of Oxford

First page of a codex by Aztec artists for the Spanish viceroy

The Founding of Tenochtitlan, from Codex

Mendoza. Aztec, 16th century. Ink and color on

paper, h. 12 3/8, University of Oxford

Symbolic illustration of the founding and ideal map of the capital:

Legend of Eagle and pear cactus (tenochtili)

The Founding of Tenochtitlan, from Codex

Mendoza. Aztec, 16th century. Ink and color on

paper, h. 12 3/8, University of Oxford

City divided into 4 quarters by waterways

Quarters and wards

•  Aztec conquests

Great Pyramid (sacred precinct)

Sacred Precinct of Tenochtitlan, Reconstruction. (National Museum of Anthropology of Mexico City)

PYRAMID OF THE SUN, Teotihuacan, Mexico, 100-650 CE

TEMPLE OF THE INSCRIPTIONS, Palenque, Mexico. Maya Culture, 5th – 8th cent. CE

Mexico City, Excavated remains of the Main Temple in the Sacred Precinct of Tenochtitlan

The Goddess Coatlicue, Aztec, 1487-1520. Basalt, h. 8’ 6”, Museo Nacional de Antropologia, Mexico City

The Goddess Coatlicue, Aztec, 1487-1520. Basalt, h. 8’ 6”, Museo Nacional de Antropologia, Mexico City

Iconography:

2 serpents form her head (1 eye each, their mouths her mouth)

Necklace of human body parts + a skull

Twisted serpent skirt (meaning of Coatlicue)

clawed hands and feet (bird-serpent combination)

Form: Duality (symmetries), frontal, symmetrical, intricate yet simple/solid, originally colored

Described as covered by blood

Iconography and style influenced by Teotihuacan

Temple of the Feathered Serpent, Teotihuacan, Mexico, after 350CE

re Importance of color in

sculpture, architecture and fashion

Moctezuma’s gift to Cortes (known as Moctezuma’s Crown)

Feathers of a variety of birds - reed frame

Ceremonial use:

Feather Headdress of Moctezuma, before 1519, Quetzal, macaw parrot and other feathers on a reed frame, Vienna

QUETZAL bird with long tale

Flying serpent: combination duality -underworld / sky -death / rebirth

16th cent. Inca empire one of the largest of the world (expansion 15th cent.)

Ethnically and linguistically diverse - strong unifying religion, bureaucracy, taxes

Immediate distruction

Capital: Cuzco, Andes Mountains

http://www.history.com/shows/mankind-decoded/videos/mankind-the-story-of-all-of-us-rise-of-the-incas#mankind-the-story-of-all-of-us-rise-of-the-incas

Machu Picchu, Peru. Inca, 1450-1530, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeyZxu3mW-Y

On Hiram Bingham and the archaeological discovery: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/inca/machu_picchu.html

-  Great altitude

-  Sophisticated infrastructures (complex masonry constructions, water system)

-  No trace of fights/war

-  No trace of forced labor (no slaves)

-  No weapons (sanctuary?)

-  Sun observatory / sanctuary

-  Terrace construction – maze

2 kinds: irregular or rectangular blocks http://mediaplayer.pearsoncmg.com/media_flash_set.width.300___set.height.420___set.title.Inca_Masonry__/

ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/art/archSim/IncaIrregular-B.mov

Polygonal stone walls

Smooth-surfaced stone walls

Video on Mach Picchu masonry techniques and terraces: http://www.history.com/topics/machu-picchu/videos#machu-picchu

Ancient tradition of textile production in the Andes

Mantle -- Peru, Paracas NECROPOLIS 200 BCE - 200 CE

No writing: history, accounts, kept on QUIPU, knotted and colored cords Complex math Compared to computer language

Tunic, Inca, c. 1500, Wool and cotton, h.

35 7/8”

Formal: variety of colors, complex geometric designs

military, religious function

Iconography of patterns

Color/motifs are standardize --> recognizable

Checkerboard= military officer

4 parts = Inca empire called Land of the 4 Quarters