"Being able to recognize a face is one of those fundamental survival skills."
Curator Joanne Pillsbury on an Olmec mask.
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Throughout 2013, The Met invited curators from across the Museum to each talk about one artwork that changed the way they see the world. Each episode is interpreted by a Museum photographer.
Photography by Oi-Cheong Lee
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This 3,000-year-old Olmec face was made to last. What can we learn from it?
"Being able to recognize a face is one of those fundamental survival skills."
Joanne Pillsbury
2 min. watch
Contributors
Joanne Pillsbury
Andrall E. Pearson Curator, The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing
Andrall E. Pearson Curator, The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing
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Olmec artist(s)
900–400 BCE