Art of Mexico

Ballenger2015

Pre-Columbian

• The various cultures and civilizations found throughout North and South America before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492.

Olmec

• The first great civilization in Mexico• 1200 B.C. to A.D. 500• Settled mainly in areas that are now Veracruz

and Tabasco• Beloved to have made the first Mexican

Sculptures• Left the earliest remains of carved alters,

pillars, sarcophagi, and statues in Mexico

Olmec Sculptures

• Carved in volcanic rock• 18 have been discovered• 8 feet high and weigh up to 40 tons• Masks with mouths that droop at the corners• Heavy eyelids, and an open mouth that

suggests a snarl. • Intended to convey power as the ruler was

linked to the supernatural world.

Mayan

• Maya controlled lands now knows as Yucatan, Guatemala, and Honduras.

• Became great builders• Devised an elaborate system of mathematics• Invented a precise calendar

Mayan Beliefs

• Believed the gods created humans through self-sacrifice

• Humans were required to return blood to the gods

• Ruler and his wife drew their own blood and captives were taken in war for sacrifice.

Mayan Architecture

• Cities were built with large plazas in the center• Many people would gather there for ceremonies.• Relief sculptures covered the buildings,

monuments, and the temples. • These contained symbols and inscriptions about

important events.• The carvings were painted in contrasting colors in

order to differentiate the details in the sculptures.

Mayan Relief Sculpture

Aztecs

• In continuous combat by their religious beliefs• Believed in human sacrifices of the human

heart• 20,000 captives were sacrificed to dedicate

the temple at Tenochtitlan• Used a system of picture writing called

“codex”

Incas

• Small tribe ruled in the Valley of Cuzco• Guipu: knotted strings of different colors used

as their written language and methods of calculations.

• Couriers: carried messages to every corner of the empire.

Machu Picchu

• Inca city • Built to protect the people from attacks • Stood through centuries of war and

earthquakes

Mexico and the United States

• Muralists in Mexico• Reviving an old tradition

Diego Rivera

• 1886-1957• Created the first modern mural painting in

Mexico• Studied Italian fresco• Liberation of the Peon figure 23.19, page 529

José Clemente Orozco

• 1883-1949• The Mexican Goya• Zapatistas• Barracade

David Alfaro Siqueiros

• 1896-1974• Muralist• Echo of a Scream