Relief Sculptures
1.) What do you see?
2.) What does it mean?
3.) How do you know?
Sculptures
Sculpture throughout the Americas was often ceremonial, with heads or full
figures of gods carved in low or high relief. Very often, human or animal forms
became highly stylized. Animal-human gods were carved with the type of
symbolism seen on the Temple of Quetzalcoatl or the clay funeral urns.
Mesoamerican
Toltec Art
Central America - Post Classical Period
Website
Toltec culture thrived between the greatest periods
of the Maya and the Aztec culture
900 -1200AD
Maya
300 – 900 AD
Toltec
900 -1200AD
Aztec
1280 - 1519 AD
Tula
(Capital of the Toltecs)
Ancient city in Mexico, the
capital of the Toltecs, which
flourished in the 9th – 12th
centuries. Its exact location is
uncertain; the archaeological
site now designated Tula has
been the choice of historians.
The Tula site suggests a city
that had a population in the
tens of thousands. The major
civic centre consists of a
plaza bordered by a fivestepped pyramid, two other
pyramids, and two ball
courts.
Tula's art and architecture are strikingly similar to those of the Aztec and its artistic
themes suggest that the Aztecs' concept of themselves as warrior-priests of the sun
god was borrowed directly from Tula.
The Rise of an Empire
The Toltec Empire appeared in the
Central Mexico area in the 10th
century AD, when they established
their central city of Tula. It is
believed that the Toltecs were
refugees from the northern
Teotihuacán culture and migrated
after its fall in 700 AD.
Little is known directly about the
Toltecs because the Aztecs
plundered the Tula ruins for
building materials for their nearby
capital, destroying most of the
historical evidence that remained.
Much of what we know about the
Toltecs comes from legends
carried on about them by later
cultures.
Atlantes statues are columns in the form of Toltec
warriors in Tula
The Toltec Empire was the first of the extreme militaristic cultures in the region that used
their might to dominate their neighbors, a trend associated with the later cultures in the
region, especially the Aztecs. Eventually the empire spread across most of Mexico,
Guatemala, and as far south as the Yucatan, as they conquered lands previously controlled
by the Mayans.
Art and Entertainment
•
The Toltec Empire and leaders created an unmatched mystique in the
minds of the Central American people. The Toltec leaders were thought of
as being alongside deities. Later cultures often revered them and copied
their legends, art, buildings and religion. Many future rulers of other
cultures, including Mayan leaders and Aztec emperors, claimed to be
descended from the Toltecs.
•
The Toltecs sported the familiar ball game played by many central American
cultures and may have sacrificed of the losers. Toltecs are known for their
somewhat rougher form of architecture, a form that would later inspire the
Aztec builders. Toltec art is characterized by walls covered with snakes and
skulls, images of a reclining Chac-mool (red jaguar), and the colossal
statues of the Atlantes, men carved from great columns.
Religion and Legend
•
There are thousands of gods
throughout Ancient Latin America.
Religion has always been a prominent
factor for social structure. Religion is a
common belief of a community and
serves as the backbone of a culture.
•
The greatest benefit of the many gods
of the people of Latin America was the
emotional satisfaction of the people.
They were emotionally satisfying in the
sense that they served as explanations
of normal everyday occurrences.
•
All known cultures have evidence of
worshipping a higher power, whether it
was a god or other supernatural being.
Gods were worshipped because they
symbolize answers for the
uncontrollable fate of humans.
Religion in the Toltec Empire was
dominated by two major deities. The
first, Quetzalcoatl, is shown (above,
left) as a plumed, feathered serpent.
This deity of learning, culture,
philosophy, fertility, holiness and
gentility was absorbed from earlier
cultures in the area. His rival was
Tezcatlipoca, (right) the smoked
mirror, known for his warlike nature
and tyranny.
The Decline
• The Toltec Empire lasted until the
12th century, when it was destroyed
by the Chitimecs and other
attacking groups.
• The Toltec people were absorbed
by the conquerors and in the south
they became assimilated with the
Maya, subordinates to the people
they once conquered.
•
After the fall of the Toltecs, central
Mexico fell into a period of chaos
and warfare without any single
ruling group for the next 200 years,
when the Aztecs gained control
Chac-mool (red jaguar)
Toltec Relief
While stone relief panels with this image
decorate architectural structures at Tula,
capital of the Toltec people in central
Mexico, and at the Maya site of Chichén
Itzá in Yucatan, this example of carved
limestone was apparently found in the
northern part of the Mexican state of
Veracruz. It depicts a raptor in profile.
The head is bent and the impressive
bird pecks at a tri-lobed object held in a
massive talon. The motif is believed to
represent an eagle devouring a human
heart. In ancient Mexican thought,
eagles, souring high into the sky, were
symbols of the sun. The sun needed
strength to survive the dangerous
nightly journey through the darkness of
the underworld, and then to rise again
each morning. It was the obligation of
human beings to provide nourishment
for the sun's journey. That food was in
the form of human hearts and blood.
This panel, along with another similar
relief, was among the first Precolumbian
Mexican objects to enter the Museum
collection.
Eagle Relief, 10th–13th century
Mexico; Toltec
Mexican Relief Depicting a Quetzal
Pictured above the Quetzalbutterfly carved on the
columns of the QuetzalPapaltl Palace adorned with
obsidian (volcanic glass)
eyes and surrounded by
symbols of water and fire.
A brilliant green and red bird.
Ralph Prata
Scratching the Surface
website
• Vibrations and
lyrics from
different musical
compositions
unlock his inner
creative vision,
resulting in
seemingly
ancient images.
Prata believes that
concrete, which has
always been around
and used both
functionally and
creatively, is being
rediscovered by many
craftspeople due to its
versatility, availability
and cost.
“My works are
dreamlike perceptions
of some universal
quality of the past,
present and future,” he
says. “Each piece is
created through a
spontaneous and
improvisational
process.”
He advises anyone looking to take
an unconventional route to get
advice from people working in
similar materials (cement). He’s a
true believer that experimenting
always opens doors for new
concepts and new ideas.
Prata’s pieces are designed to be open to
the interpretation of the collector. “The works
do not document particular life ways or tell
stories; they are to touch the spirit and
imagination, making the viewer feel free to
find their own vision,” he says.
Crafts vs Fine Art
• Ralph Prata calls himself a craftsman.
What is the difference between crafts and
fine art? What role does functionality
have?
Art and Craft Difference