Women are pictured only occasionally in Maya stone sculpture but females
are often painted on Mayan vases. The FLAAR Photo Archive includes hundreds
of photographs of females in ancient Mayan art.
Iconography, the study of meaning in art, is an
academic discipline used to analyze what is pictured on Maya vases. Iconography
is a key area of scholarly analysis of ancient art within the wider field
of pre-Columbian studies.
Rollout photographs are the easiest means of showing
the entire circumference of the Maya pots. Two rollouts here show women
in rituals, ceremonies, and myths.
The giant
insect or humming-bird like creature is treating the woman's
breast as a flower. Another section of this Codex Style vase
depicts God
D, the Crocodile Tree, and other mythical deities. The presence
of God D associated with a Crocodile Tree monster allies this
scene with one presented in Nicholas Hellmuth's book, "Monster
and Men in Maya Art," (ADEVA, Graz, and FLAAR, St Louis).
The female
painted on this Mayan vase is richly adorned with jewelry. Her
costume is the typical wrap-around textile which most women
wear in throne scenes from the Classic Maya period of the Peten
region, Guatemala.
Rollout
of a polychrome Maya vase, copyright FLAAR Photo ARchive.
Any
problem with this site please report it to jacquelinenajera@gmail.com,
or if you note any error, omission, or have a different opinion on a review,
please contact the review editor, FLAARmaya@aol.com,
