National Museum of Anthropology: Mexico City - Hardcover

(RAGGHIANTI, Carlo Ludovico And Collobi, Licia Ragghianti).

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 088225233X ISBN 13: 9780882252339

Publisher: -, 1970

Synopsis

The ancient roots of Mexican civilization - as seen in its art and artifacts - are on view in the pages of this book, just as they are in the National Museum of Anthropology itself. Here the reader will encounter the treasures of Pre-Hispanic Mexico, as on a tour, with the Museum's Director as guide through its splendors. They range from the most ancient traces of primitive civilizations to the most polished examples of 16th-century Aztec culture - from the pre-Classical small figures and pottery of the 12-century B.C., and the urns, frescoes and colossal statues of the Classical period, to the ceremonial dishes, ornaments and giant votive tablets of the Post-Classical period, when the Spanish Conquistadors first set foot in the new world of Mexico. From Tlatilco comes one of the earliest and most original creations of representational art in the Valley of Mexico, the 'Kneeling Woman Kissing a Dog' - a small masterpiece, highly personal, amazingly sophisticated in composition. From the Olmec culture comes the 'Group of Figures', composed of sixteen standing male statuettes, an exceptionally impressive tableau, shown here in a magnificent double spread. Here also are the Classical period 'Seated Woman', a 5th century figure of sovereign authority representing the goddess of fertility - sensual in its palpitating play of light and shade; and the figure of 'The God Tlaloc', innocent and refined, pouring down on earth the beneficent water that will nourish the crops. The genius of later Mexican art is seen in the 14th-century 'Flower Prince', a sacred portrait of Xochipilli, the Aztec god of spring, love, poetry and dance, which combines floral elements with geometric simplicity; the 'Crouching Rabbit', an exquisite rock-crystal sculpture of exceptional balance and compact stylization; and, to highlight the collection, the giant 'Sun Stone', representing the history of the world - abstract, occult, and full of the fire and movement of the Aztec universe.

About this edition

• Publisher: -
• Publication date: 1970
• ISBN 10: 088225233X
• ISBN 13: 9780882252339
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 1