It displays the typical Yaxchiln architectural stylea rectangular vaulted building with a stuccoed roof comb. Direct link to hunter spires's post how do we know that they , Posted 8 years ago. In the Metropolitans Relief with Enthroned Ruler (1979.206.1047), the patron Shield Jaguar IV is seated on the right of the composition, receiving tribute from Tiloom, one of his subsidiary rulers. But now Dana was interested in movie rights as well. Direct link to toxicfoltgms's post what is a vent guys idk i, Posted 8 years ago. If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked. They tend to celebrate the completion of important periods of times. And a good place for that wouldve been the Chiapas rainforest of Mexico, on the border between Guatemala and Mexico. Maya art was born from the interaction between societies in the Yucatan Peninsula and those of the Mexican Gulf Coast, known as the Olmec civilization. Bloodletting was a common ritual among elites and it is one of the most frequent subjects in Maya art. And I would be also shocked if Mayuy, the carver that weve been examining, didnt know the painters, didnt know the carvers at Bonampak. But the final thing I would say about this trajectory, Jim, that I think is worth mentioning, is that a stunning feature, even today, of all of these descendant Mayan peoples, these Mayan speakers, is that they have this kind of sustained cultural or ritual orientation that demonstrates just astonishing continuity over time. Are there pigments left on the stone still? What event is portrayed in the elaborately carved lintel showing the maya ruler shield jaguar and his wife lady xoc ( 4.6.6)? Why does he feature so much in your book? To log in and use all the features of Khan Academy, please enable JavaScript in your browser. Modern day lintels are made using . All of these kinds of objects Im talking about, these carvings, are made by the rulers, or in a very few instances, by aristocrats of fairly high rank. (P) 2006 Nonesuch Records, Inc., Produced Under License From Nonesuch Records, Inc. ISRC: USNO10600825 & USNO10600824. Lintels 24, 25 and 26, set above the three doorways of Structure 23, depict a series of rituals performed by Shield Jaguar II and his wife. Shell earflare frontals (1995.489a, b) depict the severed head of the Maya Maize God, the personification of a newly harvested ear of corn. At the Yaxchilan archaeological site there are fifty-eight lintels with decorative pieces spanning the doorways of major structures. He is shown wearing a pectoral with a representation of the sun god depicted. But it really is a time with a profoundly different constitution of society, and suddenly things become much more opaque to us. Direct link to Eric Bush's post Seems like a close 'cousi, Posted 4 years ago. It is a civilization that really comes together as a literate one, with a copious tradition of carving, probably about 2500 years ago to, more or less, the beginning of the Common Era. There are four carvings known. And in addition to that, we are laying out the kind of cultural parameters for what will become Classic Maya civilization, which is the period I study. Like many other Yaxchiln buildings it had stele associated with it, such as, Posted 7 years ago. And this may, in turn, account for the kind of micro kingdoms or the political fragmentation that are illustrated or exemplified by the carving weve been looking at. The lintel has traces of Maya blue, turquoise and red pigment. CUNO: In this episode, I speak with anthropologist Stephen Houston about his new book, A Maya Universe in Stone. Such Maya rituals as bloodletting were only enacted on slaves. Yaxchiln lintel 24, structure 23, after 709 C.E., Maya, Late Classic period, limestone, 109 x 78 x 6 cm, Mexico Trustees of the British Museum. Is elaborate the same as explain? And not only that, theyre responsible for multiple works, to which they would apply these signatures. Maya sculptors and potters also skillfully rendered carved relief or intricately hand-modeled scenes of mythological import. Were they inscribed into the lintels or something? 250-900), kings and queens of powerful city . Some of these stairways also show ball playing. They obviously, from an abundance of evidence, injected a certain life and vitality into their carving. 2 : to become elaborate (see elaborate entry 1) transitive verb. Lady Xocs burial is known as Tomb 3. Lintels 15, 16 and 17 replicate the scenes carved on the three lintels in Structure 23, constructed by Bird Jaguar's father, Shield Jaguar II. is a wonderful example of Maya Classic architecture, particularly of the Usumacinta and Peten region or style as some would call it (image below). all of these were propagandistic artworks, Recognition of Neurological Progression/Deter, The Language of Composition: Reading, Writing, Rhetoric, Lawrence Scanlon, Renee H. Shea, Robin Dissin Aufses, Eric Hinderaker, James A. Henretta, Rebecca Edwards, Robert O. Self, Byron Almen, Dorothy Payne, Stefan Kostka, Coastal ecosystems - coral reefs (Edexcel iGC. Rulers needed to shed blood in order to maintain order in the cosmos. 1 : to work out in detail : develop elaborate a theory. HOUSTON: Bonampak is a high-ranking city. But there were other couples in this kind of distinctive, at that time, American package of plucky middleclass couples living a thrilling life on vicarious behalf of their stay-at-home readers and viewership. The site is host to an impressive number of structures and monumentsover 100and is especially famous for its high-quality relief carvings. Now, what we were able to do, and especially Andrew Scherer, whos my colleague who focused in this most particularly, is to go to the remaining papers that Lamb donated to the Sherman Library in Corona del Mar, down in California. But also, as with the ruler and the magnate above, theyre identifiable in the writing, in the text nearby, as flesh-and-blood real underlings of the time. . Event and date Emplym Glyph Name Glyph: The artists name are carved into the lintels Action: The blood is dripping onto some paper in a basket She is kneeling She is wearing: Ceremonial blood leading costume In zigzag pattern there is the axis mundi The cross is the intersection of the universe For photos, transcripts, and other resources, visit getty.edu/podcasts and if you have a question, or an idea for an upcoming episode, write to us at podcasts@getty.edu. The others are in very, very similar style. The most prominent of these is the equestrian warrior, who is depicted frontally sitting regally on a diminutive horse. It is strung from a jade bead necklace that is counterbalanced by a long strand of jade beads and what are probably carved shells going down his back. Direct link to Violamaster's post Why are the Mayans into s, Posted 8 years ago. When used as verbs, elaborate means to . In the same way artists worked the hard stone, they also delicately cut and incised marine and freshwater shell, animal bones, and even human bones. And what they tell us is that these carvings were made by an identifiable, superlative sculptor whose name we know and can decipher. And I even use this analogy of trying to date a boat simply by when a champagne bottle was broken on its prow at the time of launching. And then eventually, there is the act and process of looting itself, by which these carvings are traveling around the world by boat or jet. The image and the inscription both reinforce the reign of the ruler and his dynastic ties, in this case via his wife. She has likely burned the paper to allow the blood to ascend to the gods, and to bring about the vision serpent. Its very broken landscape. And in its eyes, looking down at anybody glimpsing and glancing up at the lintel, are the names and titles of the carver. Often wooden sculptures are only recognized through the traces of a thin shell of stucco that once covered them before the wood rotted away. CUNO: Now, and weve talked a bit about the Lambs, but what about this man named Ian Graham? HOUSTON: El Tunel is Laxtunich, in our opinion. And he needed, probably, I would imagine, a lost city as a selling point. And in fact, the largest indigenous group in the United States today are speakers of Mayan languages whove immigrated here. Among the finest Mayan carving to be excavated are three temple door lintels that feature narrative scenes of a queen celebrating the king's anointing by a god. CUNO: Well now, you write about the looting, as we just mentioned a minute ago, the looting of the Maya culture. In Yaxchilan, structure 23 is seen as the place of Lady Xoc's. A person seated on a bench or throne inside the room would sometimes be able to see a carved lintel, but the view would be oblique and distant. Structure 23 is therefore important not only for advertising Shield Jaguar IIs power, but also for highlighting the important role of royal women in Maya culture. The scenes are carved in high relief with carefully incised details decorating the raised surfaces. Ancient Maya limestone carving from Yaxchilan in modern Chiapas, Mexico, The lintel as displayed in the British Museum, Museo Nacional de Antropologa e Historia, Colossal quartzite statue of Amenhotep III, Amun in the form of a ram protecting King Taharqa, Kition Necropolis Phoenician inscriptions, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yaxchilan_Lintel_24&oldid=1109549671, Ethnographic objects in the British Museum, Artefacts from Africa, Oceania and the Americas in the British Museum, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2016, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 10 September 2022, at 14:44. One building was constructed a bit early; the later came about ten years after that. Theyre expressions of Maya being that are occupying some of these carvings. Two are explicitly named as being by him. There would be a carving, there would be an act of erection or emplacement. Structure 21, commissioned by Bird Jaguar IV, housed lintels 15, 16 and 17. Is it just the appearance, that it seemed to be so much similar one to another? And so these monuments are, to me anyway, notionally in a kind of slipstream of time. And he was well known for guiding and promoting the Tarzan movies with Johnny Weissmuller and Buster Crabbe. Lintels may be visible or recessed in the roof of the facility, and reduce dose rate in publicly accessible areas by reducing the maze cross section. And hes someone who really knew how to navigate the turbulent politics of the time. it is possible, but considering the size of the monolith it would be quite difficult to print anything. And ultimately, should it be feasible, I think theres an interest, potentially, in repatriation by some process, legal or otherwise. Theyre found in many, many palaces. And also liked to indulge in himself the fun of roughing it, which mustve been every scouts dream. Such objects had and continue to hold great historical, aesthetic, and spiritual significance for Maya people and descendants. Figure emerges from the mouth of a vision serpent (detail), Lintel 25, Structure 23, Yaxchiln (Maya) (The British Museum). We also know something about the work of this artist because we have monuments that span a period of about ten years or so. In thislintel above, Bird Jaguar IV dominatesa captive. Though of no great commercial importance in any part of the . Maya sculptors also invested a monumental amount of labor in portable goods made of stone. CUNO: So help us understand the topography and vegetation of the area and how consistent it is across Guatemala. In the bowl are pieces of paper stained with her blood. The colossal statue of Constantine the Great departs completely from statues of earlier Roman and a number of its buildings stand to this day. And the buildings themselves are doubtless going to contain some remains of pieces left behind by the looters. Lintel 25, Structure 23, Yaxchiln (Maya) (The British Museum) ([view a diagram of this relief and locate this relief on a map), Lintel 25, Structure 23, Yaxchiln (Maya) (The British Museum) (. view a diagram of this relief and locate this relief on a map, Yaxchiln from the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology (Harvard). But there are, in the Guatemalan side, not too far, almost certainly, from which the lintel was found, where there are more or less untouched reserves of rain forest, with forest giants like mahogany or animals like jaguar, which are long gone elsewhere. The artist was careful to show such minute details as the strings that are tied to hold on the wrist cuffs worn by both royals, and the pattern woven on Itzamnaaj Bahlams beautiful cape. All rights reserved. Researchers found that one of the beams from Lintel 3 was cut and carved between AD 658-696 (Kennett et al. And at the same time, concurrently, there was, I would also say, a mounting or growing interest, in places like New York City or in Europe, in what was then called primitive art, a term, of course, we eschew completely at this point. And Osa, who was more of a writer than Martin, also prepared a volume called I Married Adventure. There seems to be pretty good evidence that the known carvers at Bonampak came from Yaxchilan. How many Olmec colossal heads have been discovered? Why are there 3 doors on most of the temples here? And so in many ways, the worst looting in Guatemala actually took place also, I would say, prior to that terrible civil war in that country. Its not gonna support a lot of people. It speaks about cataclysmic storms, almost a hurricane, artesian wells that are spurting like volcanoes, and so forth. The figures on top correspond to the local ruler, whose name we know, Cheleew Chan Kinich. Chakalte' Guatemalan or Mexican. Now, its also true that Laxtunich was lashing Ian, you might say. Later sculpture from the Maya area follows radically different conventions. Direct link to Jeff Kelman's post I just thought as I was r, Posted 7 years ago. In fact, its being enveloped by the growth of that urban zone. And he needed a lost city as a selling point. Direct link to Joss Glenn's post For the AP exam, is it im, Posted 7 years ago. CUNO: Well, lets turn now to the particular lintel stone We mentioned the name of Dana Lamb. Throughout this considerable literature one encounters arguments and corrections as to which structures and doorways the various lintels, long removed from the site, originally pertained. The human head worn by Shield Jaguar over his brow may be a shrunken battle trophy. Other royal scepters (1979.206.1132) and ritual regalia were carved out of jadeite and other greenstones. What event is portrayed in the elaborately carved lintel showing the Maya ruler Shield Jaguar and his wife Lady Xoc (4.6.5)? Carved from one piece of wood, the composition combines two classic Yoruba icons of power and leadership. And thats coming very close to the number of artists we might know, lets say, in Classical Athens. Yaxchilan itself is in not a very prepossessing area. A bloodletting ritual. Bloodletting was also an act related to rebirth and rejuvenation. HOUSTON: Thats right. Sculpture for the ancient Maya spans all media, from the miniature to the monumental, as artists gave shape to materials extracted from the landscape. Blood scrolls can be seen on her face. The lintel, as far as we can tell, is very much the commission of someone who was presiding over a place that Lamb called Laxtunich. Itzamnaaj Bahlam III was a central figure in directing the course of Yaxchilan. Three entryways punctuate the exteriorwhich is embellished with stucco ornamentation. The royal courts of the Maya kings and queens employed full-time painters and sculptors, some of whom signed their works. And the king, whos very much alive; and the magnate, whos also very much alive; and these Atlantean beings, who are local noblemen also alive at that time, are reaching back into a primordial act. . Nonetheless, there are plans afoot to try to return to this region and to explore it in more detail. Lady Xook holds a bowl in her left hand while she looks up towards the rising serpent. Attached to his head band is what appears to be a representation of the Jester Mask. Lady Xoc is one of the most prominent and probably politically powerful women in the Maya civilization. a bloodletting ritual Such Maya rituals as bloodletting were only enacted on slaves. It was the center around which they tended to revolve. He, too, wears an elaborate headdress, a breastplate and ear spools. V.R. But why focus on Lady Xook rather than Shield Jaguar II exclusively? His son and heir, Bird Jaguar IV, continued this tradition. And the carver that the local lord employed to create this piece, a person whose name we know, Mayuy, was almost certainly from an antagonistic dynasty to the north, a place called Piedras Negras, which is quite renowned in the history of Maya culture and civilization. It is often found . Discover the latest Getty news and stories at our new home on, The Life and Afterlife of an Ancient Maya Carving, PODCAST: International Museum Directors on COVID-19 and Collaboration, Part 2, PODCAST: New Insights into Jacopo da Pontormos Style with Curator Davide Gasparotto, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. CUNO: Now, thats extremely interesting. And theyre very revealing because we ourselves, walked into this area about fifteen years ago. He ascended to power in AD 681 and died in AD 742. Near the Usumacinta River in Chiapas (photo: Floating down the Usumacinta River in southeastern Mexico and northwestern Guatemala, various Maya sites materialize out of the dense jungle, some rising above the canopy and others subsumed by a tangle of green growth. HOUSTON: It was a book that was coauthored by Dana with his wife Ginger, but it was partly ghosted by a bookseller named June Cleveland. The use of the lintel form as a decorative building element over portals, with no structural function, has been employed in the architectural traditions and styles of most cultures over the centuries. Bird Jaguar was Yaxchiln's most prolific builder and at least a dozen major structures were initiated or remodelled during his reign. Bird Jaguar ascended the throne ten years after his father died, suggesting that there was perhaps a conflict about who was to become Yaxchilns ruler. And then it concludes, I would say, with what we call the Post-Classic, which is a very tendentious term. CUNO: Well, its a very important book, Steve, so congratulations for the book and thanks for speaking with me on this podcast. There was a Shield Jaguar and a Bird Jaguar mentioned, but the signifigance of either wasn't really explained. On what basis can you determine that there is a corpus of works by the same single sculptor? Like Lions, jaguars are the biggest cats in their region, and so they became identified with various gods and a glyph representing a lion was used in the Mayan writing system. But the rather sad thing about them is after this trip south that led to the discovery of the lintel in 1950, they never did any more voyages. Wooden lintel over kitchen fireplace with carved date of 1654, Lintel above the entrance to Jagdschloss Grunewald, Germany, "Glossary of Medieval Art and Architecture - Lintel", "NCRP Report 151 Structural shielding design and evaluation for megavoltage x-and gamma-ray radiotherapy facilities", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lintel&oldid=1116905316, This page was last edited on 18 October 2022, at 23:23. So they are very much part of the firmament of the United States, as well. He commissioned some of the most famous sculptural works at the site. It is carved, as are all the sculptures of Piedras Negras, of a buff-colored limestone which is soft and easily carved while wet. And in fact, despite its later claims, Ginger, who was, of course, Danas wife, was not even there when the lintel was found, or when he stumbled across this site that he called Laxtunich. And so that fusion of the nitty-gritty of local political hierarchy with what is deeply evocative of things in the remote past altogether make this a tremendous creative object. Not on view. HOUSTON: Its a term that comes from the ancient world, particularly in Egypt, in which many objects flowed out to museums. What we call the Post-Classic, which is a vent guys idk I, Posted years. Human head worn by Shield Jaguar II exclusively Maya kings and queens employed full-time painters and sculptors, of! Was a common ritual among elites and it is across Guatemala sculptors potters. 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