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Mask of the Red Queen

672 CE
Not on view
The funeral assemblage of Palenque’s Lady Tz’akbu Ajaw, nicknamed the Red Queen because she was found covered in cinnabar, is one of the richest known burials of a female Maya ruler. Her sarcophagus was in Temple XIII, next to the Temple of the Inscriptions, where her husband, K’inich Janaab Pakal I, was entombed; her malachite funerary mask echoes his jadeite version. She also wore a headdress ornamented with shell eyes and fangs, probably representing a deity, and a collar of multicolored beads. A Spondylus shell containing a limestone figurine probably represents a dedicatory offering performed when the queen was laid to rest.



El conjunto funerario de Tz’akbu Ajaw, la dama de Palenque llamada Reina Roja por haber sido hallada cubierta de cinabrio, proviene de una de las tumbas más suntuosas de una gobernante maya mujer. Su sarcófago se encontraba en el Templo XIII, situado junto al Templo de las Inscripciones en el que fue sepultado su esposo K’inich Janaab Pakal I. Su máscara facial de malaquita evoca la versión de jade de su esposo. También llevaba puesto un tocado adornado con ojos de concha y colmillos, probablemente para representar a una deidad, así como un collar de cuentas multicolores. Una concha Spondylus que contiene una figurilla de piedra caliza tal vez represente una ofrenda dedicatoria realizada para el entierro de la reina.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Mask of the Red Queen
  • Date: 672 CE
  • Geography: Mexico, Chiapas
  • Culture: Maya
  • Medium: Jadeite, malachite, obsidian, limestone
  • Dimensions: H. 14 7/16 × W. 9 1/16 × D. 3 1/8 in. (36.7 × 23 × 8 cm)
  • Classifications: Stone Sculpture, Masks
  • Credit Line: Museo de Sitio de Palenque “Alberto Ruz L’Huillier,” Secretaría de Cultura-INAH (10-461006, 10-629739 0/39, 10-629740 5/55)
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

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