Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya

The exhibition brings together some 130 masterworks, approximately half of them from museums in Mexico, along with outstanding examples from American, European, and Australian collections. The majority of works from Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras are coming to the United States for the first time. The exhibition demonstrates the visual magnificence and the complexity of life at court, particularly at Palenque, Mexico, but at other city-states as well. The objects on view will include primary works of stone sculpture such as stelae, lintels and panels, as well as works in other media, including ceramics, precious stone, and shell.

Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya has been organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. It will be on view in San Francisco at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor from September 4, 2004 through January 2, 2005. The exhibition builds upon a history of cooperation with Mexico. The National Gallery of Art presented Art of Aztec Mexico: Treasures of Tenochtitlan in 1983 and Olmec Art of Ancient Mexico in 1996. The Fine Arts Museums' relations with Mexico, catalyzed by a large bequest of Teotihuacan wall paintings in the late 1970s, have resulted in a series of collaborative projects, among them the exhibition Teotihuacan: City of the Gods in 1993 and this exhibition.

"This landmark exhibition has been built upon a foundation of mutual understanding and trust," said Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art. "We are grateful to the cultural leaders, scholars, and government officials, particularly Mexico's Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes and the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, for their invaluable assistance. We also wish to thank the many other nations who are lending their works to this important exhibition."

THE EXHIBITION During the 200 years from AD 600 to 800, artists and scribes under the direction of kings and nobles of the tropical rainforests of southern Mexico and adjacent Central America achieved a peak of dramatic expression and naturalism unmatched in the ancient New World. Supported by a society of astonishing depth and complexity, ancient Maya kings and queens commissioned great works of art and architecture to memorialize themselves and insure their place in history.

Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya presents a new and intimate look at the Maya court, the focus of religious and political life in each Maya city. In recent years, energetic campaigns of archaeology have yielded new and unprecedented works now being brought to an international audience by this exhibition. Particular attention has been devoted to works from Palenque, Mexico, including works long in U.S. collections as well as latest discoveries from the site. Works from the ancient Maya cities of Tonina, Yaxchilan, and Bonampak, among others, are also included. The exhibition is divided into six sections, as follows:

Life at the Maya Court. Typical members of a Maya court are introduced, from the royals to the servants, with special attention to those most sought as kingly companions, such as dwarves, hunchbacks, and musicians. On view are numerous ceramic figurines, such as those from Campeche, Mexico, of a dwarf and a singer, as well as painted vessels and an expressive sculpted throne back.

The Divine Model of Courtly Life. This section traces the connections between the Maya nobility and their gods. Each Maya court believed that it was a place with special access to the gods, and that life at court mirrored the divine world. In particular, Maya nobility emulated two gods, the Maize God and God L. The Maize God was a princely figure who symbolizes life, death and resurrection; God L was a wealthy god of tribute and trade and a denizen of the underworld. The contest between these two gods was symbolically acted out on the Maya ballcourt. On view in this section are figurines of ballplayers and a magnificent carved limestone disk from Chinkultik bearing the likeness of a Maya ballplayer.

Women at Court. To a degree unprecedented in the ancient New World, Maya women played a prominent role at court. The exhibition includes the extraordinary example of Lady Xok of Yaxchilan, who commissioned three outstanding sculptures for the lintels of doorways. On each carved panel, Lady Xok plays a central role in ritual life, such as conducting blood sacrifice or dressing her husband for battle.

Word and Image in the Maya Court. The Maya system of writing is one of five original writing systems developed in the ancient world; only in recent decades have Maya hieroglyphs begun to yield their secrets, thanks to enormous advances in their interpretation. The Maya supernatural patrons of art and writing,the "monkey scribes," are represented in this section by figurines with both human and monkey faces. Also on view are intricately carved flints, engraved bricks, and individual painted vessels, such as the elegant "Fleur-de-lis" vase.

The Court at War. This section deals with the dark side of the nobility's struggle for power. Some of the most dramatic images in the exhibition illustrate the pathos of prisoners and the power of warriors, in relief carvings and figurines of captives and statues of warriors. The harsh realities of Maya warfare are vividly portrayed in the wall murals of Bonampak, presented here in a life-size reproduction which shows a king and court presiding over mutilated captives on palace steps.

Palenque: An Exemplary Maya Court. Nestled into the hills of Chiapas, Mexico, Palenque was a place of artistic vigor for 150 years. Palenque's extensive ancient and now-deciphered texts, new archaeological discoveries, and the remarkable preservation of its architecture provide one of the single richest examples of an ancient Maya court. The exhibition includes works from the reign of every major Palenque ruler, from King Pakal (ruled 615-683) to King Kuk (acceded to office, 764), and important new archaeological discoveries, such as a panel which portrays the great king Pakal at the center, framed by his descendants. Works on display include the iconic stucco Portrait Head of Pakal. Pressetext

Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya
Kuratorinnen: Kathleen Berrin, Mary Ellen Miller
East Building of the National Gallery of Art, Washington