Clothes Make the God: the Ehecatl of Calixtlahuaca, Mexico
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Clothes Make the God: The Ehecatl of Calixtlahuaca, Mexico Jennifer Lynn Burley During the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries in of this addition to his name, he is regularly identified by a Central Mexico, the Aztec government commissioned works red, protruding buccal mask, the Calixtlahuaca Ehecatl’s of art throughout the inner provinces of its empire as well as permanent feature. in the capital, Tenochtitlan, where Mexico City now stands. The deity image belongs to a group of sculptures that One of the provincial areas was the colony of Calixtlahuaca, Aztec scholar Richard Townsend terms cult effigies—anthro- located in the Tollocan province, 70 miles west of the impe- pomorphic figures that were the object of ceremonies.5 As rial capital. A number of Aztec period sculptures have been evidenced by the absence of permanent clothing and lack found at this site.1 Among these is the only known imperial- of detail in the body, this type of effigy would have been style deity image found at a temple in the Aztec realm, the dressed and its clothing could be changed for different oc- unclothed sculpture of the Aztec wind god, Ehecatl (Figure casions. As in other Aztec productions, the Calixtlahuaca 1). The stone sculpture was found at Calixtlahuaca during Ehecatl’s garments were an essential part of the deity image, José Garcia Payón’s excavation of the site in the 1930s on the and the image cannot be interpreted without considering its southeast side of Structure 3, a round temple known to be the costume. Townsend’s analysis emphasizes the supernatural type of building associated with the wind in Mesoamerica.2 aspect of cult effigies, but they had other meanings as well. The life-sized sculpture can be identified as Ehecatl by his For the Aztecs, ritual attire was meant to visually express a prominent mouth mask, the buccal mask that he wears; metaphoric language that had both religious and political the sculpted figure also wears sandals and a loincloth. The significance in the case of major temple images like the mask covers the mouth and chin of the deity and combines Calixtlahuaca Ehecatl.6 As Stephen Houston and David features of avian and reptilian snouts. The sculpture displays Stuart acknowledge, “effigies of gods do not ‘represent’ dei- black body paint, and the mask is painted red. ties. They are gods in the sense of being partial extensions The word ehecatl, in Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, of divinity.”7 When dressed, the Calixtlahuaca Ehecatl was means wind. Ehecatl is also the name of the Aztec wind god, transformed into the god of wind and was imbued with the and in Aztec religion he is primarily associated with fertility, supernatural abilities of the deity. as harbinger of the rains.3 He is also an important creator god This examination of the sculpture functions as a case who started the movement of the sun and breathed life into study of the usages of cult effigies in the Aztec empire as re- humans.4 In manuscripts made after the Spanish conquest flected in clothing. The costume of the Calixtlahuaca Ehecatl of Mexico in 1521, the wind god is sometimes referred to would have been changed for different ceremonies in order as Quetzalcoatl Ehecatl or Ehecatl Quetzalcoatl. Regardless to commemorate special events. The range of clothing the Special thanks go to Emily Umberger for the suggestions and resources 3 Bernardino de Sahagún, General History of the Things of New Spain: she provided for this paper, and for her continued guidance and inter- Florentine Codex, ed. and trans. Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. est in my work. I am also grateful to Michael Smith for his work on Dibble (Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research, 1950-78), 1:3. Calixtlahuaca and his support for this project. Additionally, I would like to thank Victor Osorio for his generosity in allowing me to reproduce 4 Sahagún, General History, 7:8. photographs of the Calixtlahuaca Ehecatl. I extend my thanks to all those who gave feedback on earlier versions of the paper. Finally, I 5 Richard Fraser Townsend, State and Cosmos in the Art of Tenochtitlan thank Andrew Bozant, whose insightful and original comments have (Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 1979), 23. shaped this project at every stage. 6 For a detailed description of ritual attire, see Townsend, State and 1 Emily Umberger, “Historia del arte e Imperio Azteca: la evidencia de Cosmos, 23-36; and Arild Hvidtfeldt, Teotl and *Ixiptlatli: Some Central las esculturas,” Revista Española de Antropología Americana 37 (2007): Conceptions in Ancient Mexican Religion, with a General Introduction 172-173. on Cult and Myth (Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1958), 76-139. 2 Mario Mariscal, “Quetzalcoatl: Deidad de los Vientos,” Revista de 7 Stephen Houston and David Stuart, “Of Gods, Glyphs and Kings: Revistas 28 (1938): 1. It should be noted that ehecatl means wind, not Divinity and Rulership Among the Classic Maya,” Antiquity 70 (1996): wind god and Ehecatl, as the sculpture is known, was not necessarily 297. an Aztec title. Other wind gods exist in Mesoamerica in addition to Ehecatl of Calixtlahuaca. ATHANOR XXX JENNIFER LYNN BURLEY sculpture might have been dressed in is displayed in rep- The attention given to the carving of certain parts and the lack resentations of the wind god in post-conquest manuscripts. of detail in others is appropriate in a sculpture that would This paper speculates on the range of clothing the sculpture have been clothed. While wearing a costume, the sculpture’s might have worn and emphasizes how his attire relates to the feet and face would be visible, the head would have borne Aztec Empire’s political agendas. If we accept the religious a headdress, and the hands would have held objects. The and political implications of ritual attire, then we can analyze torso was covered or uncovered according to the occasion. the garments of Ehecatl as imperialistic images of the Aztec Given that the headdress, costume, and held objects are Empire and place them within discourses of power. not a permanent part of the sculpture, one can assume that The Calixtlahuaca Ehecatl has meanings for the Aztec they were manufactured with a variety of different materi- government, specifically in relation to the conquest of the als, such as cloth and paper, and changed according to the Matlatzinca, the inhabitants of the province where the usage of the figure. sculpture was found. The practice of creating monumental In manuscripts, in addition to the red buccal mask, the architecture and sculpture in Mesoamerica demonstrated the wind god’s basic costume consists of a conical headdress, dominance of the group that commissioned the work.8 In the a curved shell ear pendant, either a breastplate or shield provincial area of Calixtlahuaca, the sculpture was intended displaying the wind-shell design, and sandals. Most of the to show the Matlatzinca that the empire controlled agricul- costume attributes are varied in style and intricacy and are ture, fertility, and the luxury goods associated with the wind often supplemented by additional elements, including back god. The Matlatzinca region was significant to the Aztecs for fans, face paint, and other jewelry. The distinct accoutre- strategic purposes. Due to its location, it served as a barrier ments refer to social class, occasion celebrated, supernatural between Tenochtitlan and the enemy Tarascan territory. It abilities, and occupation, all of which reinforce the political was also a tributary province that contributed taxes and significance of the figure. military manpower to the empire. Most importantly, since Two important sources of the wind god’s costume are it is close to the capital city, the Matlatzinca area was able Fray Diego Durán’s Book of the Gods and Rites of the Ancient to provide agricultural products to the imperial heartland. Calendar, that describes and illustrates the attire, and Fray In addition to tributary obligations, thousands of colonists Bernardino de Sahagún’s General History of the Things of settled there from the empire’s center to work the land.9 New Spain: Florentine Codex, in which it is only described.12 Ways of legitimizing Aztec rule were important in Ca- Durán discusses a wooden statue of an idol with a buccal lixtlahuaca, in particular, because there was still unrest in the mask and real garments (Figure 2). The red mask was red area in the early sixteenth century. After the initial conquest with a crest emerging from the beak, rows of teeth and a in the 1470s, there were several revolts; two rulers—Tizoc, in protruding tongue. The corresponding image depicts the 1484, and Motecuhzoma II, in 1510—defeated Matlatzinca deity with this mask, sandals, conical headdress, and spiral- rebellions.10 The various uprisings are evidence that the shaped wind-shell breastplate. He also wears a cape made Matlatzinca area was never fully subjugated by the Aztecs, of feathers and a knee-length loincloth. He carries a spear and tools for reinforcing the strength and power of the Aztec thrower and shield.13 Sahagún adds that the headdress is government were important to discourage any additional made of jaguar-skin and that the shield has a “wind-shell” uprisings, although they were not necessarily effective. Thus, design on it.14 the form, content, and function of the Calixtlahuaca Ehecatl Styles of the mask vary only slightly in manuscript images act to legitimize the rule of the Aztecs and assert their politi- and are similar to the three-dimensional representation of the cal and economic dominance. Significantly, the deity himself mask on the Calixtlahuaca Ehecatl. If the mask was rendered functioned as a symbol of Aztec authority more than human in a consistent manner in manuscripts and stone sculpture, administrators in the Matlatzinca area.