Aztec Art
Facts on Aztec Art
- Art in the Aztec empire came from a long history of different tribes. Techniques and themes in Aztec art were influenced by thousands of years of artistry.
- The Aztecs sometimes called art toltecat. This word was from a group of people called the Toltecs. There were statues of the gods in the abandoned city that influenced the Aztecs.
- The common people were not generally allowed to own works of art because art was very precious.
- The people of the empire liked insects, birds, fish and animals. A lot of their art reflected this. Jaguars, ducks, monkeys, snakes, deer and dogs were also common themes.
- Of course, a lot of the art was religion related. The gods were often shown, and they resembled animals as well. The drawings of the gods were often sharp and thin, and brightly colored. Art would often show gods, rituals, or Aztec warriors in their finery.
- Art could be made with gold, silver, copper, jewels, feathers, coral, clay and stone, to name a few.
- Mosaics were very common in ancient Aztec art. Masks would be covered in turquoise shells. For example, the two-headed snake, probably worn as an ornament during ceremonial events.
- Ancient Aztec art was actually very lifelike. Many of their statues of people, as well as animals, look very realistic.
Pottery
|
Ancient Aztec pottery is often known for its geometric shapes. These were complicatedly drawn, with repeating patterns. But as time went on, they began to use more naturalistic patterns, figures of animals were used, like marine figures.
Ancient Aztec pottery had many different uses. There were clay earrings, masks and sculptures. Pottery decorated temples of their gods. Pottery of all shapes and sizes portrayed a variety of designs that were meaningful to the Aztec culture and religion. The designs usually placed on the pottery were meant to show or pay respect to specific Aztec gods or to represent an Aztec tribe. |
Sculptures
Aztec sculpture usually represented gods and mythical creatures, and was normally expressed through ceramics, architecture, freestanding three-dimensional stone works, and relief work.
The city of Tenochtitlan contained some of the finest examples of Aztec sculptures, like it's temples, pyramids and decorative stone palaces.
Also, great deal of Aztec sculpture incorporated the skull motif or "skull art".
The Aztecs showed their religion through a variety of sculptures made of stones. They spent days carving freestanding idols as well as wall sculptures to place in their temples. The stone sculptures were usually created to represent their gods or the sacrificial victims. The Aztecs also carved small figures of animals and people out of jade, obsidian, and quartz.
The calendar stone is probably the most famous sculpture in Aztec art history. This sculpture weighs 22 000 kilograms and is 3.6576 feet in diameter. The face of the sun god is carved in the center of the stone. Circular groups symbolize the heavens and the days are located around the face.
The city of Tenochtitlan contained some of the finest examples of Aztec sculptures, like it's temples, pyramids and decorative stone palaces.
Also, great deal of Aztec sculpture incorporated the skull motif or "skull art".
The Aztecs showed their religion through a variety of sculptures made of stones. They spent days carving freestanding idols as well as wall sculptures to place in their temples. The stone sculptures were usually created to represent their gods or the sacrificial victims. The Aztecs also carved small figures of animals and people out of jade, obsidian, and quartz.
The calendar stone is probably the most famous sculpture in Aztec art history. This sculpture weighs 22 000 kilograms and is 3.6576 feet in diameter. The face of the sun god is carved in the center of the stone. Circular groups symbolize the heavens and the days are located around the face.
Drawings
A famous form of Aztec art is ancient pictographs. Pictographs are small pictures that represented objects or sounds. These Aztec drawings were used within their counting system.For example, a picture of a flag was used to represent the number 20. A picture of a fir tree was used to represent 400 and a picture of a pouch represented 8000. This highly advanced form of Aztec art was also used to record their history and to conduct business.
|
Development of Aztec Art
- The artistic styles that became popular had been developing for hundreds and thousands of years. Some elements of Aztec art came from the people at the empire, such as the Mexicans, and some from the people they conquered.
- As an empire that was quickly expanding and conquering, there may have been little time to develop new art forms. The minor development came from the new materials and discoveries that became available.
- It's hard to develop a good history of art in the Aztec world, because the changes over time were very minimal.
- There is another place art forms may have come from, and that is the Mixtec people. Never conquered by the Aztecs, these people maintained a vibrant culture which seems to have influenced the Aztecs.
- Aztec art history is really more of a history of adapting the art forms that were already there.
- The nobles and religious leaders controlled a lot of the art that survives today.