ART OF AZTEC MEXICO Treasures of Tenochtitlan ART OF AZTEC MEXICO Treasures of Tenochtitlan H. B. NICHOLSON with ELOISE QUIÑONES KEBER NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON This exhibition has been generously supported by a contribution from the GTE Corporation Copyright © 1983 Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. 2.0565. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Nicholson, Henry B. Art of Aztec Mexico. Catalog of an exhibition at the National Gallery of Art. Bibliography: p. i. Aztecs—Art—Exhibitions. 2. Indians of Mexico—Mexico City—Art—Exhibitions. I. Keber, Eloise Quinones. II. National Gallery of Art (US.) III. Title. Fi2.i976.A78N5 1983 73o'.o972.'53 83-172.17 ISBN 0-89468-070-6 Contents Directors' Foreword 6 J. CARTER BROWN AND GILES CONSTABLE Preface 11 DR. ENRIQUE FLORESCANO Lenders to the Exhibition i z Preface 14 GEORGE KUBLER Introduction: The Discovery of Aztec Art 17 H. B. NICHOLSON Catalogue 30 Aztec Deities 178 Glossary 181 Selected Bibliography 18 6 Picture Credits 188 Foreword AZTEC CULTURE HAS BEEN THE SUBJECT OF SCHOLARLY CURIOSITY since the Spanish Conquest of the New World in the sixteenth century. A vast body of surviving ethnohistorical records and many archaeological excavations have revealed the nature of Aztec society more clearly than that of any other pre-Columbian people. Indeed, the Aztecs had become so familiar by the twentieth century that interest in them waned, and archaeologists, anthro- pologists, and art historians turned their attention to other, less well-known cultures of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. From 1978 to 1981, however, ex- cavations in downtown Mexico City gave new impetus to Aztec research. The discovery of the ritual heart of the Aztec empire—the Templo Mayor and the sacred precinct of Tenochtitlan—has brought to light much new in- formation that both alters and confirms our views of Aztec religion, art and architecture, politics, and economics. In the fall of 1981, Dumbarton Oaks, Harvard University's research cen- ter in Washington for Byzantine and pre-Columbian studies and the history of landscape architecture, began to make plans for a scholarly symposium in the fall of 1983 on the results of the Templo Mayor excavations. There was also discussion of a small exhibition of objects from the archaeological site. By summer 1982, when Professor Eduardo Matos Moctezuma, Coordina- tor of the Templo Mayor project, came to Washington to organize the con- ference with Professor George Kubler of Yale University, Professor Gordon Willey of Harvard, and Dr. Elizabeth Boone of Dumbarton Oaks, the Mexi- can embassy had become interested in the plans. Counselor Alberto Cam- pillo in particular proposed a larger and more comprehensive exhibition, a suggestion which was supported by the new ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Bernardo Sepiilveda. This idea of a major presenta- tion of Aztec art was captivating, for there has never been a truly representa- tive survey displayed outside of Mexico. Since it would have been impossi- ble to mount an exhibition of this size at Dumbarton Oaks, the National Gallery of Art was approached and was delighted to join in the undertaking. Art of Aztec Mexico: Treasures of Tenochtitlan is the result of much collabo- rative and cooperative effort. Dr. Elizabeth Boone, Curator of the Pre-Columbian Collection at Dum- barton Oaks, has served as coordinating curator for the show, working with Professor H. B. Nicholson of the University of California at Los Angeles to select the objects to be included. We are grateful to Professor Nicholson for helping to organize the exhibition and its presentation, and for writing the catalogue with the collaboration of Eloise Quinones Keber of Columbia University. George Kubler agreed to add a preface to the catalogue. At the National Gallery the organization and administration were car- ried out by Gaillard F. Ravenel, Mark Leithauser, and Dodge Thomp- son. The exhibition was designed by Gaillard F. Ravenel and Mark Leithauser, in consultation with H. B. Nicholson and Elizabeth Boone. Also at the National Gallery, Victor Covey, Cameran Greer, Jose Naranjo, Frances Smyth, and Mei Su Teng participated in the prep- aration of the exhibition and the catalogue. Throughout the planning and presentation of the exhibition we have been fortunate to have had strong support and close cooperation from the Mexi- 6 Zoomorphic slit gong, no. 63 can Office of the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Office of the Secretary of Pub- lic Education, and the embassy in Washington. The continued personal in- terest of Ambassador Sepiilveda, who in 1981 became Secretary of Foreign Affairs, has been crucial for the show's success, as has the support of Lie. Jesus Reyes Heroics, Secretary of Public Education, and the active role of His Excellency Jorge Espinosa de los Reyes, who put the services of the em- bassy at our disposal. Lie. Ricardo Valero Bercerra, Subsecretary for Cul- tural Affairs, and Dra. Luz del Amo, Director General of Cultural Affairs, of the Office of the Secretary of Foreign Affairs; and Lie. Juan Jose Bremer M., Subsecretary for Culture and Recreation in the Office of the Secretary of Public Education, helped immensely with the project. Particular thanks are also due to Minister Walter Astie-Burgos, who gave valuable advice and as- sistance, and to Alberto Campillo, who was involved from the beginning in all phases of the planning and has continued to work on behalf of the exhibi- tion even after leaving the embassy in Washington. The exhibition could not have been possible without the close collabora- tion of the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico. Shortly after Dr. Enrique Florescano assumed the directorship of the Insti- tute, he endorsed the plans for the exhibition, and he has continually given it his full support. He joins us in thanking the directors of the Mexican mu- seums and projects that have lent objects to the show, especially Lie. Salo- mon Gonzalez Blanco of the Templo Mayor and Mtro. Mario Vasquez of the MuseoNacional de Antropologia, who agreed to the loan of many of the finest treasures of his museum and who oversaw the loans of all the objects from Mexico. Mtro. Vasquez was ably assisted by Mtra. Marcia Castro- Leal, Subdirectress of the Museo, and Mtro. Felipe Solis Olguin, curator of the museum's Mexica collection. We are also grateful to Dr. Valentin Mo- lina Pineiro for the loan of a piece from the Fundacion Cultural Telavisa. The support among museums both in the United States and Europe has been gratifying, for the directors and curators of the major pre-Columbian collections enthusiastically agreed to participate by sending some of their most famous pieces. In this respect we wish to thank our colleagues William Andrews, Gerhard Baer, Henning Bischof, Piergiuseppe Bozzetti, Elizabeth Carmichael, Claudio Cavatrunci, Dieter Eisleb, Gordon Ekholm, Diana 7