THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART lilliiiiiiirji lini inii"'i' ,,J'" 3 0620 00833838"" 5 The Art of Ancient Mexico and Peru A Loan Exhibition from The Metropolitan Museum of Art made possible by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts « tr*~* THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART 3 0620 00794349 0 ft of Ancient Mexico and Peru A Loan Exhibition from The Metropolitan Museum of Art made possible by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts I •JÁ i The Art of Ancient Mexico and Peru The first great art of the ancient American continents was made about 1000 B.C. in the countries known today as Mexico and Peru. The Olmecs of Mexico and the Chavin peoples of Peru were thinkers and artists of inventive genius, who influenced both their contemporaries and descendants. Their descendants, of course, varied in language, culture, social complexity, and artistic ability. They flourished for centuries, separated from the events of the Old World by the vast expanses of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The peoples of the Americas had been isolated since about 10,000 B.C. when the land bridge, over which they had crossed from Asia, had disappeared with the rising waters of the Bering Sea. Their isolation ended in 1492 when Christopher Columbus landed on the small island of San Salvador in the Bahamas. 1. Figure, possibly a dwarf* Stone; H. 5Vs" Mexican (Olmec); 12th-8th Beginning about 1200 B.C., the Olmecs lived in the coastal swamps of centuties B.C. the Gulf of Mexico in the adjacent states of Veracruz and Tabasco. The Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 Olmecs are known principally as sculptors, although they were also 1979.206.827 very able potters. Among their stone sculptures are a number of small, dwarf-like figures of unknown significance. Possibly they are part of the 2. Two bowls, possibly for paint so-called were-jaguar complex, a group of mythologically important Ceramic; L. 6", 4%" beings, part human and part feline. The Olmecs favored ceramics of Mexican (Olmec); 12th- 8th blacks, whites, and grays. Many come from areas other than the Gulf centuries B.C. Coast homeland, an area too wet for ready preservation of ceramics. The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection of Primitive Other Olmec art has also been found in places far from the Gulf Art, Gift of Arthur M. Bullowa, 1974 Coast—a testimony to the considerable political, as well as artistic, 1978.412.263, 264 importance of this early Mexican people. 3. Bowl Ceramic; Dm. IOVB" Mexican (Olmec); 12th-8th centuries B.C. Gift of Arthur M. Bullowa, 1979 1979.205.1 . _ • 4. Female figure Ceramic; H. 8%" Mexican (Nayarit); 1st-3rd centuries Colima and Nayarit, two states along the Pacific Coast of Mexico, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, have given their names to large groups of tomb objects from their 1979 respective areas. The objects are found in multi-burial shaft tombs 1979.206.701 dating from about the second century B.C. through the fourth century A.D. The ceramics of Colima, frequently vessels in sculptural shapes, 5. Vessel in the form of an animal* are the most appealing, and they exist in a wide variety of type and Ceramic; L. 7%" image. A greater degree of stylization is common to Nayarit ceramics, Mexican (Nayarit); 1st-3rd centuries particularly in the human figures. Guerrero, also on the Pacific Coast, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller has a more complex ancient history than its neighbors. It is noted for 1979 small-scale sculpture in various kinds of green stones. 1979.206.338 6. Female figure Ceramic; H. 61/s" Mexican (Colima); 1st-3rd centuries Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller 1979 1979.206.1000 7. Vessel in the form of a hunchback Ceramic; H. 11" Mexican (Colima); 3rd century Museum Accession X.2.431 8. Tripod vessel Ceramic; H. 9Vs" Mexican (Colima); 1st-3rd centuries Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 1979.206.350 9. Frog Stone; L. 2%" Mexican (Guerrero); 1st-3rd centuries Purchase, 1900 00.51242 10. Head wearing animal-snout mask (from a figure) * 5 Ceramic; H. 14 /s" Veracruz, the narrow Gulf Coast state, produced an amazing variety of Mexican (Veracruz); 4th- 7th centuries objects during its long history. Artistic output was high during the mid- Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, late first millennium A.D., producing some of the most detailed ceramic 1979 sculpture ever to be fired in ancient Mexico, and numerous stone 1979.206.576 objects thought to be related to the ceremonial ballgame. These latter objects include hachas (axes), so-named because of their axe-like 11. Hacha in the form of a bird shape. The exact use to which these objects was put is conjectural. head Whistles, in various ceramic shapes, were made throughout ancient Stone; H. 6VB" Mexico. The frog whistle shown here has a particularly deep and Mexican (Veracruz); 6th-9th centuries impressive sound. Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 1979.206.369 12. Whistle in the form of a frog Ceramic; L. 5%" Mexican (Veracruz); 6th-9th centuries The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection of Primitive Art, Gift of Mrs. Gertrud A. Mellon, 1969 1978.412.233 13. Female figure* Ceramic; H. IVt," Mexican (Maya); 7th-8th Maya artistic fame rests chiefly on the art of the seventh and eighth centuries centuries of the southern Maya lowlands, an area primarily located Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 in Guatemala's Peten district. Ceramic vessels and figures, jade 1979.206.373 ornaments, and objects of bone, flint, and shell all come from Maya tombs. The simply-shaped ceramic vessels with painted scenes 14. Vessel with figures wearing give invaluable insight into ancient ways. Many important rituals, few bird (?) masks completely understood today, are depicted on the vessels. Much of Ceramic; H. 7%" the architecture of this time was built for the ruling dynasties, and the Mexican or Guatemalan (Maya); sculpture that decorates the palaces and the temples often deals 8th century Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, with the exploits of particular rulers. Ceremonies necessary for the 1979 maintenance of power also appear frequently in relief sculpture. 1979.206.1122 15. Rubbing of a lintel with an enthroned ruler Lintel: limestone; 35" x 35" Mexican or Guatemalan (Maya); 8th century Rubbing by Merle Greene, 1967: Ink on rice paper; 341/2" x 341/2" The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection of Primitive Art, Gift of Merle Greene Robertson, 1967 Inst. 1978.10.7 16. Goddess with 7 Serpent glyph* Stone; H. 13V2" The Aztecs ruled much of Mexico at the time of the Spanish Conquest Mexican (Aztec); 14th-16th in the sixteenth century. They were aggressive, opportunistic warriors centuries Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, who built their capital city, Tenochtitlan, in the middle of Lake Texcoco 1979 in the large Basin of Mexico. As Aztec power grew, so did their city; 1979.206.407 temples and palaces were meant to impress both friend and foe. A great deal of stone sculpture made during Aztec times was used not 17. God, possibly of wind only in Tenochtitlan, but also in temples and shrines throughout Aztec 1 Stone; H. 12 /2" dominated Mexico. Many of the sculptures were deity figures. The Mexican (Aztec); 14th-16th Aztecs had an enormously complex polytheistic religion, reflected in centuries Purchase, 1900 their series of deity images. Many of these images were painted and 00.5.50 for special occasions embellished by the addition of paper ornaments. Today, the identification of specific gods and goddesses can often be 18. Figure with wrinkled face difficult because of this complexity of deity images, and the absence of Stone; H.9V2" adornments. Mexican (Aztec); 14th-16th centuries Purchase, 1900 m 00.5.55 19. Figure, possibly a cherub* Stone; H. 9%" Mexican (Colonial); 16th century After the Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards in the early sixteenth Purchase, 1900 century, the invaders were particularly interested in destroying the 00.5.77 native religion. Aztec religion, its emphasis on human sacrifice, was particularly abhorrent to sixteenth-century Christians. Aztec temples and gods were destroyed and Catholic churches appeared in their place. To build the many churches necessary during the early years of colonization, the Spaniards employed native artisans and stone masons. In doing so, European and Aztec artistic traditions interacted. This figure, for instance, depicting a chubby, curly-haired, active child, perhaps a cherub, is clearly not Aztec in its imagery, but it is fashioned in the Aztec manner. It was carved in stone, covered with lime plaster to give it a smooth surface, and then probably painted. Remnants of the white lime plaster are visible on the figure. 20. Monkey stirrup-spout vessel* Ceramic; H. 11 Va" Peruvian (Chavin); 7th—5th The Chavin era of Peru, dating to about the turn of the first millennium centuries B.C. Harris Brisbane Dick and B.C., is named for its major temple compound located near Chavin Fletcher Funds, 1967 de Huantar in the northern central highlands of the Peruvian Andes. 67.239.6 A great many of the Chavin objects known today, mostly ceramic vessels, come from burials in the coastal valleys of Chicama, Moche, 21. Bowl and Jequetepeque. Often depicting animals, they are sculptural forms Ceramic; Dm. 7%" with pleasingly finished surfaces. The art of Chavin had a profound Peruvian (Paracas); 7th-3rd effect on many other areas of Peru, most notably the southern coast. centuries B.C. Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, The name given to these southern works, Paracas, is from the 1979 peninsula on which many have been found.