An exhibition at Fort Worth's Kimbell Art Museum uses ancient artworks to retell the stories of the gods of the Maya civilization.
Like their counterparts in the pantheons of Greece, Rome, Egypt and India, the Maya gods were closely associated with the ruling class, and demonstrating devotion to the gods was an important part of a ruler’s legitimacy. In the eighth-century carved stone slab from Calakmul, Mexico, the ruler wears a headdress, cape and other garments that show his sacred office.
Sometimes the rulers even seem to usurp the gods. A limestone panel from the Cleveland Museum of Art shows a royal woman with a fabulous headdress holding a small wriggling K’awiil in her hand. Kʼawiil also appears on a remarkable, razor-sharp flint, riding in a canoe with human passengers on a supernatural voyage.
Keying on symbols that were fundamental to Mayan life — sun and rain, night and day, maize and the jaguar — the curators retell the myths of the Maya gods, and how their dramatic adventures bridged the natural and social worlds.Nighttime, for example, was naturally associated with scary creatures, like the monsters that adorn an intricately carved rectangular ceramic box from Guatemala.
Also associated with the dawn was the howler monkey, whose hearty cry would greet the morning. On a lidded vessel, the monkey’s head serves as a handle, so that dinner guests could imagine him crying out as the steaming entree beneath was revealed to the table.The Maize God, one of the main figures in the pantheon, stays forever young and immortal, despite endless trials. He appears as an elegant youth in a 3-foot-tall limestone sculpture from Copan, Honduras.
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