a stone sculpture of a fearsome and regal figure wearing an ornate headdress

Lives of the Gods: Divinity in Maya Art

Pillsbury, Joanne, Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos, and James A. Doyle, with contributions by Iyaxel Cojti Ren, Caitlin C. Earley, Stephen D. Houston, and Daniel Salazar Lama

2022

244 pages

190 illustrations

8.5 x 11 in

Winner, Alfred H. Barr Jr. Award, 2024

This title is in print.

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About the authors

An introduction to the complex stories of Mesoamerican divinity through the carvings, ceramics, and metalwork of the Maya Classic period

Lives of the Gods reveals how ancient Maya artists evoked a pantheon as rich and complex as the more familiar Greco-Roman, Hindu-Buddhist, and Egyptian deities. Focusing on the period between A.D. 250 and 900, the authors show how this powerful cosmology informed some of the greatest creative achievements of Maya civilization.

Met Art in Publication

Maize God emerging from a flower, Ceramic, pigment, Maya — Maize God emerging from a flower
7th–9th century

Vessel with mythological scene, Metropolitan Painter, Ceramic, pigment, Maya — Vessel with mythological scene
Metropolitan Painter
7th–8th century

Statuette of Amun, Gold — Statuette of Amun
ca. 945–712 B.C.

Harihara, Sandstone, Cambodia or Vietnam — Harihara
late 7th–early 8th century

Shrine of the Virgin, Oak, linen covering, polychromy, gilding, gesso, German — Shrine of the Virgin
ca. 1300

Flywhisk (tahiri ra’a), Wood, coconut fiber, human hair, Rurutu or Tupua'I Island — Flywhisk (tahiri ra’a)
Early–mid-19th century

Celt with Incised Profile

10th–4th century BCE

Spider Monkey with Wind God Regalia, Stone, Aztec — Spider Monkey with Wind God Regalia
13th–16th century

Whistling vessel, Maya artist, Ceramic, Maya — Whistling vessel
Maya artist
400–500 CE

Vessel with mythological scene, Metropolitan Painter, Ceramic, Maya — Vessel with mythological scene
Metropolitan Painter
7th–8th century

Tripod plate with mythological scene, Ceramic with red, cream, and black slip, Maya — Tripod plate with mythological scene
7th–8th century

Vessel with mythological scene, Ceramic, Maya — Vessel with mythological scene
7th–8th century

Chahk, Limestone, Maya — Chahk
9th century

Pair of carved ornaments with the Maize God, Shell, Maya — Pair of carved ornaments with the Maize God
5th–7th century

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MLA

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Chinchilla Mazariegos, Oswaldo Fernando, Joanne Pillsbury, James A. Doyle, eds. 2022. Lives of the Gods: Divinity in Maya Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Lives of the Gods: Divinity in Maya Art

Met Art in Publication

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Lives of the Gods: Divinity in Maya Art

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