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Sun God (K’inich)
Not on view
This portrait of K’inich, the Sun God, was once part of the ornamentation of a building in the palace complex at Palenque. As the seat of royal authority, the palace buildings were covered with stuccoed and painted decoration that linked the kings of Palenque to the city’s patron gods and proclaimed their long dynastic background. Deceased rulers were glorified as new suns emerging from cartouches normally occupied by the Sun God. In this portrait, the solar deity is recognizable by the squinting eyes and T-shaped teeth. Some individuals sought to replicate this appearance by cutting the outer corners of their frontal incisors.
Dios del sol (K’inich)
Patio noroeste de El Palacio, Palenque, Chiapas, México
Siglo VII al VIII
Estuco
Este retrato de K’inich, dios del sol, formaba parte de la ornamentación de un edificio del complejo palaciego de Palenque, sede de la autoridad real. Las edificaciones que conformaban este conjunto estaban cubiertas con decorados de estuco y pinturas que vinculaban a los reyes de Palenque con las deidades patronas de la ciudad y exaltaban su extenso pasado dinástico. Los gobernantes que morían eran adorados como nuevos soles y se les representaba en el cartucho que normalmente ocupaba el dios del sol. En esta pieza se reconoce a K’inich por sus ojos estrábicos y sus dientes en forma de T. Algunos individuos se cortaban los bordes de los incisivos para parecerse a esta deidad.
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