Rain droplets fall on the landscape surrounding a stone building. Inside, the Maize God stands next to a bound captive. Both have elongated heads crowned by locks of hair. They are about to be freed by Chahk, who has split the roof wielding his axe, whose strikes are comparable to thunderbolts. In modern narratives, the Maize God pacifies the unruly rain deities to bring about orderly rainy seasons that will quench his thirst and allow him to grow.
Vasija con escena mitológica México o Guatemala Siglo VII al VIII Cerámica
Gotas de lluvia caen en el paisaje que rodea un edificio de piedra. Dentro, el dios del maíz está parado junto a un prisionero atado; ambos tienen cabezas puntiagudas coronadas por mechones de pelo. Están a punto de ser liberados por Chahk, quien ha roto el techo a golpes de hacha, como si fueran rayos. En la narrativa actual, ante las lluvias torrenciales, el dios del maíz apacigua a los dioses para así ordenar las temporadas de lluvia que le permitirán mitigar su sed y crecer.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Vessel with mythological scene
Artist:Maya artist(s)
Date:600–800 CE
Geography:Mexico or Guatemala, Mesoamerica
Culture:Maya
Medium:Ceramic
Dimensions:H. 7 1/2 in. × W. 4 3/8 in. × D. 4 1/4 in. × 4 7/16 in. × 13 7/16 in. (19 × 11.1 × 10.8 × 11.2 × 34.2 cm)
Classification:Ceramics-Vessels
Credit Line:Gift of Justin Kerr, in memory of Barbara Kerr, 2014
Object Number:2014.632.1
[Spencer Throckmorton, New York, until 1984]; Justin and Barbara Kerr, New York, 1984–2014
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Lives of the Gods: Divinity in Maya Art," November 14, 2022–April 2, 2023.
Kimbell Art Museum. "Lives of the Gods: Divinity in Maya Art," May 7–September 3, 2023.
Nahm, Grube, Nikolai Nahm, and Werner Nahm. "A Census of Xibalba: A Complete Inventory of Way Characters on Maya Ceramics." In The Maya Vase Book, edited by Justin Kerr. Vol. Vol. 4. pp. 686–715.
Kerr, Justin. "A Corpus of Rollout Photographs of Maya Vases." In The Maya Vase Book. Vol. vol. 2. Kerr Associates, 1990, p. 211.
Grube, Nikolai, and Werner Nahm. "A Census of Xibalba: A Complete Inventory of Way Characters on Maya Ceramics." In The Maya Vase Book, edited by Justin Kerr, and Barbara Wendell Kerr. Vol. vol. 1994. New York, 1994, pp. 686–715, (see p. 688).
Coe, Michael D., and Justin Kerr. The Art of the Maya Scribe. 1998, pp. 156–57, fig. 127.
Knowlton, Timothy. The Stone-in-Hand Glyph. Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc., 1999, http://www.famsi.org/research/kerr/articles/stone_in_hand/.
Mora-Marín, David. The Structure of the Dedicatory Formula in Classic Lowland Mayan Texts: A Preliminary Typology. 1999, p. 28, https://davidmm.web.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/400/2010/08/PSS1999.pdf.
Carrasco, Michael David, and Kerry Hull. "The Cosmogonic Symbolism of the Corbeled Vault in Maya Architecture." Mexicon vol. 24 (2002), pp. 26–32, fig. 5.
Zender, Marc. "Glyphs for 'Handspan' and 'Strike' in Classic Maya Ballgame Texts." In The PARI Journal. Vol. vol. 4, no. 4. 2004, pp. 1–9, fig. 5, http://www.mesoweb.com/pari/publications/journal/404/Handspan.pdf.
Carrasco, Michael David. "The Mask Flange Iconographic Complex:The Art, Ritual, and History of a Maya Sacred Image." PhD diss., Austin, 2005, unpublished, p. 456, fig. B.7, https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/1835.
Boot, Erik. "What Happened on the Date 7 Manik' 5 Woh? An Analysis of Text and Image on Kerr Nos. 0717, 7447, and 8457." In Wayeb Notes. Vol. vol. 21. 2006, p. 3, https://www.wayeb.org/notes/wayeb_notes0021.pdf.
García Barrios, Ana. "Chaahk, el dios de la lluvia, en el periodo Clásico maya: Aspectos religiosos y políticos." PhD diss., Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 2006, pp. 80–81, fig. 1.63.
Houston, Stephen D., David Stuart, and Karl A. Taube. The Memory of Bones: Body, Being and Experience Among the Classic Maya. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2006, p. 49, fig. 1.52(a).
Bassie-Sweet, Karen. Maya Sacred Geography and the Creator Deities. Civilization of the American Indian Series. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2008, pp. 146–147.
Schoenmakers, Paul. Drawing, After Rollout of Vase Kerr 2068. Wayeb Drawing Archive, 2008, http://www.wayeb.org/drawings/k2068.png.
Braakhuis, H.E.M. "The Tonsured Maize God and Chicome-Xochitl as Maize Bringers and Culture Heroes: A Gulf Coast Perspective." In Wayeb Notes. Vol. No. 32. 2009, fig. 5, https://www.wayeb.org/notes/wayeb_notes0032.pdf.
Doyle, James. "Creation Narratives on Ancient Maya Codex-Style Ceramics in the Metropolitan Museum." In Metropolitan Museum Journal. Vol. vol. 51. 2016, pp. 42–63, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Doyle_Metropolitan_Museum_Journal_v_51_2016.
Chinchilla Mazariegos, Oswaldo, James Doyle, and Joanne Pillsbury, eds. Lives of the Gods: Divinity in Maya Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2022, p. 123, figs. 89A, 89B.
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