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Mayan Art Megathread

Discussion in 'General Chat' started by Warden, Jul 15, 2016.

  1. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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    :wideyed: That is cool, good to know someone on this site has been there! I am jealous, I hope it was a good trip!
     
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  2. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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    Some potentially Lizardmen themed looking weapons from the internet:

    f6b374191a1bb8cbe83eaa6e7c47fd4a.jpg
    671458463c071a42b0eaf561cc6261de.jpg

    age of conan jade teeth.jpg

    51c1b9503ab10ef543e4199029d1b049.jpg

    e3631d6d4f801ae330acd10bc75edc92.jpg

    712182829685b23c431dcc0c5b285757.jpg
     
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  3. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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    Found this one on pinterest. Mayan glyphs are always so mysterious... :blackalien:

    34c5f52b731c6f8cf81fe81da751fb14.jpg

    I like the little white face on the left side, he looks like he is up to no good.
     
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  4. Aginor
    Slann

    Aginor Fifth Spawning Staff Member

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    I just stumbled upon somthing that I'd like to ask y'all Maya experts:

    I read the wiki article about Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli (what a name!)
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli

    And that article contains a drawing of a scene in which Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli (yes, I copy and paste that name, don't judge me! :D ) wounds a woman. Clear so far. But what is the rest we see there? What is she doing?

    Also she seems to be naked, which made me wonder: What do we know about Mayan clothing habits? Surely their women weren't running around naked?

    EDIT: Wait... is she bathing? That lower, darker background part could be water, there are small waves on top. The animals might be a turtle and a fish? Are they wounded,too? The red thing being blood?

    I have a hard time with that art style.

    EDIT2:
    Also about the clothes: The problem with art such as wall paintings is that it often shows ceremonial clothes or only warriors/priests/nobles.
    Hard to get information about everyday clothes.
     
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  5. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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    Bunch of questions there, I will do my best! :bookworm:

    As far as the picture concerning Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli (wow what a name) that you found, it is originally from the Codex Borgia, an Aztec codex that I used a picture from on a previous post. The picture you mentioned is part of plates 53 and 54, specifically in the lower right-hand corner:

    plates 53 and 54.jpg

    It took a bit of reading, but the author of the book has broken down much of the symbolism that these panels depict. Many have to deal with day signs on the Aztec calendar.

    All six panels are read, one to six, in this order:

    Plates 53 and 54 Numbered.png

    Panel 1 is unrelated to the rest of them however, it depicts an Aztec god Xochipilli as a deer, with some day signs unrelated to the rest on the page.

    Starting in panel 2 and going all the way to panel 6, each depicts the Aztec god Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli in various costumes/disguises/aspects, in the act of sacrificing victims. Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli is known as the god of Venus, who in Aztec and Mayan mythology deals very often with warfare. It is believed that many of the pre-columbian cultures would start wars when Venus was in its highest in the sky with the specific goal of gathering captives for blood sacrifice. The blood sacrifice was in turn used to "feed" the gods of the earth, which would respond by "feeding" the living humans with maize (corn) and other crops.

    Specifically in panel 2, Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, wearing a skull, is sacrificing the Aztec goddess Chalchiuhtlicue, who is the goddess of running water, hence why she is shown in a river. Around here is some additional animals (a turtle and something else, I am guessing a shell or a fish). Why they are bleeding too I am not sure, maybe the venus-god really was feeling froggy...

    This panel also starts the Aztec years' calendar sequence, starting with the date 1 Alligator in the very lower right-hand corner, and the next three day-signs hover above Chalchiuhtlicue's head (2 Wind, 3 House, 4 Lizard). The days continue in this order all the way till 13 Reed, and start over with 1 Jaguar.


    The Aztec calendar depicted here is the 260-Day Calendar, very similiar to the Mayan calendar which I used to make the Lizardmen variant in the fluff section.

    The calendar was ceremonial in nature, with 13 sequences of 13 days. A total of 20 day-signs were used, which repeated until the final set of 13 was reached.

    Here is the list of day-signs used in this part of the codex:

    • 1 Alligator (Panel 2)
    • 2 Wind
    • 3 House
    • 4 Lizard
    • 5 Serpent (Panel 3)
    • 6 Death
    • 7 Deer
    • 8 Rabbit
    • 9 Water (Panel 4)
    • 10 Dog
    • 11 Monkey
    • 12 Grass
    • 13 Reed (Panel 5)
    • 1 Jaguar
    • 2 Eagle
    • 3 Vulture
    • 4 Movement (Panel 6)
    • 5 Flint
    • 6 Rain
    • 7 Flower

    And here is what all the Aztec day-signs look like:
    maya-aztec-inca-civilizations-mayan-and-other-calendars-10-728.jpg

    I also included this picture; they aren't in the same order for some reason, but the pictures were prettier:

    tonalpohualli-symbols.jpg

    I have put some notes in the margins on this picture for an easier read; starting in the top right-hand corner to go in a general order... :confused:

    Plates 53 and 54 Info.png


    ok... that was a lot. Fortunately I own a modern-day copy of the book :bookworm:

    As far as clothing habits for the Aztecs/Mayans, I don't have the source in front of me. But based on what I have read (I remember Bishop Landa had something to say on it in that primary source), it came down to status and ceremony.

    Commoners and poor people dressed sparsely. Men usually just loincloths, women often the same (just a loincloth, this caused lots of consternation with the Spanish when they showed up) but also quite frequently wore dresses that kept the shoulders bare and extended to about knee-length. Most often had their ears or noses pierced from a young age. Children normally ran around naked until they were older.

    Rich people dressed more lavishly of course, with feathers, jewels and even more piercings on every orifice of the body. Women wore long, carefully made and beautifully detailed clothing, while men wore large-belted loincloths and capes of feathers, and of course the both wore huge hats with even more feathers. During ceremonies and depending on their status, they would wear ornate headdresses of wood, feathers, and other materials, that most likely mimiced the lavish designs we see in the artwork, but I find it hard to believe that these people wore those kinds of things every day either.



    I think I hit all the questions, that was enjoyable to research and write about :vulcan:
     
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  6. Aginor
    Slann

    Aginor Fifth Spawning Staff Member

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    Cool info, thanks a lot!
     
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  7. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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    Some cool pictures from a restaurant in Mexico (haven't visited it myself) from Trip Advisor, but it also says its now closed...

    filename-xulam-may-2012.jpg

    Named "Xulam the Mayan Fisher." I would loved to check out the artwork they painted on the walls before they closed.

    filename-xulam-may-2012 3.jpg

    filename-xulam-may-2012 2.jpg

    filename-xulam-may-2012 4.jpg

    filename-xulam-may-2012 5.jpg
     
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  8. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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    Found some (psychedelic) modern-day? Aztec art on pinterest. Quite beautiful, makes me think of codex-related artwork such as the Codex Borgia, but its much newer. Most was in Spanish so I couldn't place the artist.

    Xochiquetzal the Plumed Blossom (God/dess of Love?):

    Xochiquetzal, the Plumed Blossom.jpg

    Sacrifice of Quetzacotl:
    Sacrifice of Quetzalcoátl.jpg


    Ce Coatl, the One Serpent: (I love the flames on this one)
    Ce Coátl, One Serpent.jpg

    Beautiful work.
    A1.jpg

    A2.jpg

    Ce Ozomatli, the One Monkey:
    Ce Ozomatli, One Monkey.jpg

    Sacrifice of Xolotl:
    El sacrificio de Xolotl.jpg

    Quezacoatl- Ehecatl.jpg
     
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  9. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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    Got some Mayan and other temple pictures for more terrain ideas.

    Palenque:
    Palenque 3.jpg
    Palenque 1.jpg

    Palenque 2.jpg

    Small top-temple, from Chichen Itza:
    Chichen Itza temple top.jpg

    Tulum:
    Tulum.jpg

    allegedly Teotihuacan:
    Teotihuacan Virtual.jpg

    Hochob:
    Hochob in Color.jpg

    Uaxactub:
    Uaxactub.jpg
     
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  10. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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    A small group of pictures pertaining to Xibalba, the Mayan underworld.

    0dae1effd2f598a93fc5cb9b03328e45.jpg

    Depending on which sources, there are several levels/houses of the underworld. Specifically the Hero Twins (important in the Mayan creation mythos) traveled through the underworld, defeating the challenges in the torture houses the gods set against them. Jaguars in the jaguar house, fire in the fire house, one of them even was decapitated in the bat house and later resurrected-ish in the form of the Maize god.
    There are many, nine main ones, but I couldn't tell you which ones are which without more research. Good mix of gods and monsters here.
    7f0e31c356412054ce8345668fc50b4d.jpg

    7646f95e561b6282da539dcee14cb4b2.jpg
    Yum Kimil, one of the death gods
    yum kimil.jpg

    yum kimil, lord of the mayan underworld.jpg

    Xibalba translates to "Place of Fear"

    place of fear.jpg

    a7dfe1c95428bc4cb3d14ca50bfefcfd.jpg

    29fb530fd915cee9175fe37d1b78e5ac.jpg


    And here is what the actual Mayan underworld looks like. Many caves like this, and others, throughout the entire Mayan region.

    cueva de xibalba.jpg
     
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  11. n810
    Slann

    n810 First Spawning

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  12. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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    You may be right. That picture looked more like Copan than Teotihuacan, I think it was a mislabel. Someday I will make myself a collection of city-layouts so I can recognize them at a glance.

    Also that is a very interesting link, lots of beautiful pictures and good information. I had never heard specifically of the Palace of Quetzalpapalotl, but the link does talk about the cross-cultural blending (mostly through conquest) of the Mayans by the warlords of Teotihuacan, specifically Smoke Frog.

    I also noticed that some of the stone carvings on the palace pillars look suspiciously like skink priests...

    2-0016C-Teotihuacan-Pillar-of-Quetzalpapalotl-Coloured.jpg
    Another picture I found, it could be a whole row of skink priests!

    575147297.jpg
     
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  13. n810
    Slann

    n810 First Spawning

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    The thing I remembered from my visit is all the bits of obsidian set in to the stonework,
    specific all of the eyes but also some other random places.
    oh also this style of odd stonework was everywhere, even on the pyramids.
    [​IMG]
     
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  14. n810
    Slann

    n810 First Spawning

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    [​IMG]
    oh one other thing, the palace roof is still the the original roof... you can see the rough wood timbers under the outer stone layers.
     
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  15. Nefertem
    Temple Guard

    Nefertem Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for putting so much effort in this. It's really an inspiring source for information and background
     
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  16. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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    There is lots of great stuff out there, I just like the pretty pictures and artwork.

    Impressive!

    This I really find shocking, and almost hard to believe but its amazing if this is actually true. Most Mayan buildings that have wooden roofs are either collapsed due to decay in a jungle environment, or preserved in such a way as to have become basically rocks.

    The only buildings that I have seen either have reconstructed roofs, or else they have just collapsed.
     
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  17. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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    I have been exploring @n810 's link at undiscovered history, they have tons of high quality images on almost every mesoamerican ruin I have heard of, plus some I haven't encountered yet.

    I have been using the images from Chicanna for inspiration on a current project. I didn't realize there were a number of different buildings on the same site. The famous one, the "House of the Serpent Mouth," is structure II, one of several structures that used to have highly detailed snake-monster mouths of astonishing detail, and is currently the best preserved.

    They also had it in color, mostly to highlight the individual important parts.

    X0674C-Chicanna-Structure-II-House-of-the-Serpent-Mouth-Coloured.jpg


    I especially liked how the page was able to break down the imagery so easily, showing how the snake-mouth related to other Mayan images such as the witz-mountain monster, snake-centipede entrances to the underworld, and even the serpent-tree bar of Mayan rulership and authority. Great stuff.
     
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  18. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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    Went to a restaurant the other day, happened to see two Mayan-inspired cast plaques on the wall. First one is definately inspired by one of the lintels from Yaxchilan, the second one I am not sure but they both caught by eye:

    IMG_6260.JPG

    IMG_6261.JPG
     
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  19. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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    Random find: Joan Jade and the Gates of Xibalba. Apparently its a cheap computer/phone game, it came up while I was running a "xibalba" search. Nice artwork, so I have added it here.

    750x750bb.jpg

    Lots of nice Mayan-Mesoamerican looking artwork on all the drawing panels that are very thematic.

    555937-joan-jade-and-the-gates-of-xibalba-ipad-screenshot-temple.jpg
    419259-joan-jade-and-the-gates-of-xibalba-windows-screenshot-incomplete.png
    Underground cave:

    419282-joan-jade-and-the-gates-of-xibalba-windows-screenshot-cave.png

    joan-jade-and-the-gates-of-xibalba090.jpg

    joan-jade-and-the-gates-of-xibalba-8211.jpg

    Joan-Jade-and-the-Gates-of-Xibalba-a-800x600.jpg

    joan-jade-and-the-gates-of-xibalba-screenshot0_big.jpg
     
  20. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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    A few more that didn't fit. Lots of Lizardmen terrain potential.

    screen3.jpg

    screen1.jpg

    joan-jade-and-the-gates-of-xibalba-screenshot3.jpg

    s00_800x600.jpg
     
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