Maya+Art

=Maya Art= By Andrea Schofield

The Maya come from a region in Mesoamerica that is located along the southwest coast of Mexico all the way down to the south of Honduras. They are known for their monumental structures and architecture, being temples, pyramids, and ballcourts, to their variety of art forms that help to tell the stories of the past. Art, in many ways, help to decipher the past by interpreting the clues that were left behind. Much of the artwork found throughout the Mayan region depicts rulers, gods and the ideas of religion, as well as having a mythological origin. Much of the artwork is found in temples and palaces, however, it is also possible to be seen as free standing structures, for example the stone sculptures known as stelae. Some of the main forms of artwork are sculptures, paintings, and hieroglyphs, a symbolic written text that is found on many pieces of art.

There are many forms of art found throughout the Mayan region, however, the Mayan’s are particularly known for their sculptures. Whether these sculptures were made of stone, jade, wood, or stucco, one thing is certain, these were extremely detailed pieces and they can be found throughout many sites as well as time periods. “The Maya artists excelled in low-relief carving, and that is what most Maya sculpture is (Coe 142)”.
 * Sculpture**

//Stone//

Many sculptures throughout the Mayan region were made out of stone. One of the most important stone sculptures were the stelae. Stelae were massive stone slabs, or shafts, that were carved into the rulers of the particular area they were located in. The rulers were often depicted of gods and were found with hieroglyphic text.

One of the most famous sites where a large amount of stelea were found was at Copan, Honduras. Copan “owes its reputation, as one of the finest Maya sites, with admirable plazas, platforms, staircases embellished by sculptures, and temples- than to the art of the stalae” (Stierlin 70). Many of the stelaes found were extremely detailed with ornate carvings and delicate features. The sculptures depicted rulers from this area and they had an enormous amount of hieroglyphic inscriptions. In addition to the stelae found here, one of the longest hieroglyphic scripts was found along the Stairway of Copan, it consisted of 2500 glyphs.

Two stelae found at Copan.

//Jade//

Another material used by the Mayans was jade, one of the hardest rock of North America (Miller 73). Jade was carved just as stone was, which would have been particularly difficult for the Mayans because there is no evidence of the use of stone tools in the area. Jade was an extremely precious stone that was found along the coast. The stone represented wealth and was usually found amongst the elites. This is shown at the site of Palenque where one of the most elaborate jade carvings was ever found, at Lord Janahb Pakal’s tomb.

Lord Janahb Pakal was one of the greatest rulers of all time in Mayan history. He is now known as “Pakal the Great, he had ascended the throne when he was twelve years old and had died in AD 683” (Coe 134). Due to his long reign he was honored with a beautiful jade tomb, that he had built for himself, which is the most elaborate tomb ever found. His sarcophagus was found in the Temple of Inscriptions at Pakal. A jade mask covered his entire face and the eyes were made of obsidian and shell. All of the delicate materials were somehow affixed to wood, which has now rotted away. Within the Funerary Crypt there was also an extremely large relief-carving, made out of jade, that covered his sarcophagus. The carving depicts a youthful Pakal the Great, falling “through gigantic fleshless jaws into the Underworld; above him rises the World Tree, surmounted by the bird-monster Wuqub Kaquix. Surrounding the scene is a band depicting celestial bodies and celestial bodies and ancestral figures” (Coe 137).

Lord Janahb Pakal's face mask

The lid to Lord Pakal's sarcophagus, carved jade.


 * Paintings**

A second form of art found throughout the Mayan region are their paintings. Mayans painted on walls as well as pottery. They painted murals that depicted human sacrifice, as in the blood letting ceremonies. The paintings that have been found have been few due to the climate, however, those that have been found have given great insight into the culture and what was going on in the New World. Most paintings have been discovered on walls from the Late Classic period and they were usually on monumental structures or within tombs.

The most elaborate paintings ever found and that stand out from all other Maya works was the Bonampak murals. The paintings themselves illustrate Maya life well by representing the hierarchy to warfare to palace life. “The paintings depict literally hundreds of members of the Maya nobility, in the most realistic representations that survive of many rituals known otherwise only from texts” (Miller 171). The paintings have really explained, with detail, the way in which Maya society worked and survived. In addition to the Bonampak murals giving light to the Maya lifestyle, the paintings are also practically life size, giving the viewer the ability to really feel as if they are a part of the scene. This shows how massive this piece of artwork and most importantly no other Mesoamerican artwork is as large, which makes the mural extremely impressive. One other key feature to this painting also shows emotions by capturing the spirit of agony and victory from ancient America” (Miller 171)

Portion of the Bonampak mural.


 * Hieroglyphs**

Hieroglyphs are characters that hold specific meanings and they are used throughout the Mayan region. The Maya used hieroglyphs on most forms of artwork, from sculptures to stairwells found within temples and palaces. The hieroglyphs are considered pieces of art being that so much detail went into each glyph. The hieroglyphs have been extremely important in deciphering the past. Those that have been able to read the complicated system have found a great deal of information about the societies. They have given great insight into what was going on during this time and without this particular writing system we would not have the knowledge we are fortunate to have about this particular culture.

One of the most impressive forms of the hieroglyphs is at a site that has already been discussed. At the site of Copan the Temple of the Hieroglyphic Stairway can be found. The temple was completed in the eighth century AD “with a magnificent frontal staircase every one of whose sixty-three steps is embellished on the risers with an immense dynastic text of about 2,500 glyphs” (Coe 115). The detail found on this stairway is more than impressive and it took extensive work to complete the structure. Unfortunately, even with the great detail, most of the glyphs have been damaged and therefore much of the text is unreadable.




 * Conclusion**

Art has always, and will always be, a way to decipher the past. Many forms of art, as seen throughout the Maya region, have given great insight to the past and helped to interpret what actually took place not only from different sites but during different time periods. Much of what we have learned about this society has been from the massive monumental features and more incredibly by the stone stelae. The stelae tell us of a time of rulers and how the societies prospered and thrived. In addition to the stelae, the importance of wealth and prestige is shown by Lord Pakal and the sarcophagus that he had built for himself. Different forms of art and the way it is used shows how societies related to one another, if there were social classes or a hierarchal system. In conclusion, art is extremely important in the understanding of the Maya region by showing the relations each society had with one another and how they were able to learn and grow from the previous one.

References

Coe, Michael D. 1984 Mexico. 3, rev a enl ed. New York, N.Y.: Thames and Hudson.

Coe, Michael D. 1980 The Maya. Rev ed. London: Thames and Hudson.

Miller, Mary Ellen 1999 Maya Art and Architecture. London ; New York: Thames & Hudson.

Stierlin, Henri 1981 Art of the Maya : From the Olmecs to the Toltec-Maya. New York: Rizzoli.