This multimedia architectural altarpiece took two decades to complete, and required teams of workers in many media.
Location City: Mexico City
Capable of being male or female, the Earth Lord Tlaltecuhtli is shown here as a woman who has given birth.
Monolith of Tlaltecuhtli (Earth Lord)
A continuous narrative, this shows three different parts of the story, each in a different part of the landscape.
Baltasar de Echave Ibía, The Hermits
This vessel represents the goggle-eyed deity associated with rain and crops, critical for the agricultural Aztecs.
Tlaloc vessel
This screen offers an idealized bird’s eye view of Mexico City on one side, and depicts the Conquest on the other.
Biombo with the Conquest of Mexico and ...
These seventeen baby-faced figures may have represented a priestly ritual, a sacrifice, or a procession.
Offering #4, La Venta
Cabrera fancied himself the Michelangelo of Mexico, but chose to borrow the format and iconography of Rubens.
Miguel Cabrera, Virgin of the Apocalypse
Over a hundred lintel relief sculptures depicting scenes from royal life survive from Yaxchilán.
Yaxchilán—Lintels 24 and 25 from Structure 23 ...
This multimedia architectural altarpiece took two decades to complete, and required teams of workers in many media.
Jerónimo de Balbás, Altar of the Kings (Altar ...
This was buried in an offering at an Aztec temple, some 1500 years later and far from where it was made.
Olmec mask
The family drama that lead to Coyolxuahqui’s dismemberment represented here has great soap opera potential.
Coyolxauhqui Monolith
So ubiquitous that it has been used on currency, this unfinished stone records Aztec history and a future prophecy.
The Sun Stone (or The Calendar Stone) ...
Velasco shows us the history of the land, both the natural and the built environments.
José María Velasco, The Valley of Mexico ...
Sor Juana is seated in front of books from her own library, and with implements alluding to her status as a writer.
Miguel Cabrera, Portrait of Sor Juana Inés ...
The Virgin miraculously appeared to a Nahua man in 1531, and has since been the object of intense devotion.
Virgin of Guadalupe
When the Spaniards arrived here, they were amazed by the architecture—but it didn’t stop them from destroying it.
The Templo Mayor and the Coyolxauhqui Stone
This goddess has clawed feet, and wears a necklace of body parts and the snake-skirt from which she takes her name.
Coatlicue
Large stone sculptures was the principal medium for presenting Maya political and religious messages to the public.
Classic Maya portrait stelae
Playful figurines, including plump pigs and canine companions, represent scenes of daily life and nature.