MAYA MURALS When These Extremely Detailed Murals Were Preservation
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MAYA MURALS When these extremely detailed murals were Preservation. Although less than 5 percent of the BONAMPAK, MEXICO panions to the jungle-shrouded ruins they knew are the most complete Maya wall paintings from who dedicated themselves to maintaining the ritu- himself—who were privileged enough to sit upon a new, modern, “people’s art” garnered interna- RECORDING THE uncovered, scholars found that both the art of murals had been exposed by the looters when to house ancient paintings. Photographs of the the late Classic period (600–900 c.e.), and they al calendar. But the Bonampak artists painted a the benchlike thrones. tional attention and inspired the Chicano Mural SAN BARTOLO, GUATEMALA painting and the Maya’s complex creation story, Saturno found them, the tunnel the looters dug Nestled deep within the forests of Chiapas, murals soon appeared in newspaper articles and provide an unparalleled view of courtly life and different picture: one that emphasized a politically Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, particularly MURALS which justifi ed the king’s divine right to rule, severely undercut the paintings, causing some Mexico, the small Maya site of Bonampak is home in the pages of Life magazine, causing a world- military practice among the ancient Maya, pre- savvy and militarily accomplished society. Preservation. Since Giles Healey’s fi rst visit to the in southern California, Arizona, and Texas—and Archaeologists are using new and traditional While exploring in the Guatemalan rainfor- were well-established centuries earlier than previ- painted plaster to fall from the walls. Saturno, col- to one of the most magnifi cent artistic creations wide sensation. senting an image of the world as the Maya elites paintings in 1946, conservators have struggled to these traditions continue to infl uence the murals tools to record and study these murals. In the est for the Peabody Museum’s Corpus of Maya ously thought. leagues, and conservators from the Getty Conser- in the Americas. In May 1946, Giles Healey was chose to present it. The Bonampak murals were painted for a private preserve the Bonampak murals in the oppressive of today. 1990s, the Bonampak Documentation Proj- Hieroglyphic Inscriptions program in March vation Institute and the Smithsonian Institution in Mexico making a fi lm about life among the At the end of the eighth century c.e., Maya artists audience. Each small room can hold only a few heat and changing humidity of the rainforest. ect, led by Mary Miller of Yale, photographed 2001, Harvard Ph.D. William Saturno made one Like an ancient Maya book unfolded on the walls, focused immediate attention on environmental Lacandón Maya for the United Fruit Company painted a masterpiece within the three rooms of a Before the Bonampak murals were unveiled to people at a time. Further, the most stirring scenes Although Mexico’s National Institute of Anthro- every inch of the paintings in normal and of the most exciting discoveries in the history of the painted narratives spring to life in brilliant monitoring and stabilizing the walls. The murals’ when Acasio Chan and José Pepe Chambor, both small stone masonry building—its vaults intact— the world, leading scholars believed that ancient of sacrifi ce and celebration could only be seen pology and History carried out a massive cleaning infrared wavelengths, which reveals details Maya studies. In search of carved stone monu- color. The North Wall mural emphasizes the excavations and consolidation began only when Lacandón Maya Indians, led him and his com- on the site’s acropolis. The murals of Bonampak Maya society was governed by peaceful priests by a handful of individuals—such as the king and restoration effort in the 1980s, physical chal- no longer visible to the naked eye. Guided by ments, Saturno undertook an arduous journey in agricultural cycle of death and rebirth and the it was clear that the environment was stable and lenges persist. these new images, in 2002 artists Heather the Petén region of Guatemala. Arriving fi nally at symbols and rituals of kingship. The otherworldly the paintings would not be further damaged by Hurst and Leonard Ashby completed the an unnamed site, Saturno sought shelter from the story of creation and sacrifi ce serves to establish exposure to modern environmental conditions. Continuing Traditions. Following the 1910 Mexi- most accurate reproduction of the Bonampak tropical heat within the shade of a looter’s tunnel. the power of the real Maya king in this world. The Conservation efforts continue today at San Bar- can Revolution, a vibrant, powerful social mural murals to date. As his fl ashlight fl itted across the tunnel wall, paintings appear above a geometric “skyband,” tolo, as archaeologists and conservators analyze movement arose in Mexico, peaking in the 1920s a painted face of the maize deity appeared. For placing both the mythic and historic action within the materials and pigments used in these excep- and 1930s. Although dozens of muralists were Bill Saturno used a fl atbed scanner to more than fi ve years following that fi rst glimpse, the celestial realm of the gods. tional early paintings, and specialists monitor the active, Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and capture images of the San Bartolo murals, Saturno’s team worked to uncover the ancient pyramid’s environmental conditions. David Alfaro Siqueiros are considered to be los stitching the individual scans together to paintings, and continues to explore the site. tres grandes, or “the three great ones,” at the create the composite shown far left. heart of what became known as the Mexican Muralist Movement. The Mexican muralists dramatized Mexi- co’s Precolumbian past and the Spanish invasion, celebrated contemporary social movements, and envisioned an egalitarian future. Their emphasis on THE MOCHE was repetitive and abstract. In temple courtyards, Peruvian national symbols were used to adorn CREDITS AWATOVI The Moche, on Peru’s north coast, inherited grander themes were depicted. The most elabo- public buildings. The ongoing discoveries of a mural-painting tradition already more than rate murals were placed on the front terraces of Moche murals and the subsequent increase in Cover Bonampak 1,000 years old when they decorated their temple huacas and included larger-than-life representa- tourism have served as inspiration and incentive Composite reconstruction of a wall mural in Room 1 mural, Bonampak, Yucatan, Mexico. MURALS OF THE AMERICAS walls in the fi rst seven centuries c.e. Murals were tions of deities and mythic heroes. for local artists to make murals once again. Now, Room 788, Awatovi. pm 39-97-10/23060C. Watercolor painting by Heather Hurst and Throughout time and around the world, people painted on the adobe walls of large, terraced restaurants, gift shops, and public spaces proudly Leonard Ashby ©2002. STORIED WALLS architectural complexes called huacas where Preservation. Moche temples layered new con- display designs inspired from the past and use Watercolor of the North Wall, San Bartolo. have painted the walls of their homes, palaces, human sacrifi ces and other rituals took place. structions of adobe bricks on top of older ones, many of the materials and techniques from Painting by Heather Hurst. José Clemente Orozco, The Epic of American The stepped terraces of huacas were covered with burying earlier murals beneath the newer archi- ancient times. Civilization, Panel 7, The Departure of tombs, temples, and government buildings with adobe plaster or modeled in bas relief, and fea- tecture. Over time, looting and natural events Detail of painted wall relief, Huaca de la Luna, Quetzalcoatl. Dartmouth College, 1932–34. an array of scenes and designs expressing artistic tured brightly painted images of gods and scenes have destroyed these outer layers, but the earlier Peru. Photo courtesy Huaca de la Luna Archaeo- Courtesy Dartmouth College. of victorious warriors with prisoners. These walls and rooms were preserved. As researchers logical Project. as well as social values. kivas and murals decayed and was buried with and the glue holding the cloth was dissolved to colorful decorations contrasted with the brown uncover these earlier layers, they use chemicals to Recording the Murals windblown sand. remove the cloth. Only mural layers found in very desert sands and green agricultural fi elds, and stabilize paints and plaster and take samples for Awatovi (Top right) Heather Hurst at work on the good condition could be preserved in this way. emphasized the huacas’ role as power centers that further study, combining archaeology and conser- Fragment of an original mural, Awatovi, Room painted reproduction. Photo courtesy Mary The painters who adorned these walls left In the 1930s, the Peabody Museum launched Of more than 240 surfaces that had some paint dazzled arriving pilgrims. vation in simultaneous processes. In addition to 788, Wall e, Design 1. pm 39-97-10/23099B. Miller, Bonampak Documentation Project. stunning visual accounts of some of the most a major archaeological expedition to Antelope on them, parts of just 16 were preserved. The documenting murals through photography and Mesa. To their surprise, archaeologists found that remaining mural layers were carefully drawn and Moche mural traditions were discovered in the monitoring their condition, archaeologists and Detail of a drawing by Delbridge Honanie (Center) Gene Ware, right, and Stephen signifi cant and enduring stories of their times— The ancestors of the Hopi of northern Arizona many layers of murals of 14 different kivas had photographed. fi rst decades of the twentieth century, when the conservators have constructed roofs and other inspired by the Awatovi murals. Houston, at back, photograph the mural in stories that insist upon being read, even now, were village-dwelling farmers, who lived for survived at Awatovi and the nearby prehistoric looting of archaeological sites revealed the wall protective systems to protect the murals.