(jazzy piano music)
- [Steven] We're in the National Museum of Anthropology
in Mexico City, looking at one of four
large ceramic braziers,
vessels that were containers for burning.
This one represents a goddess associated with maize,
with ripe corn.
- [Lauren] The one we're looking at is Chicomecoatl,
or Seven Serpent.
And she is a very popular deity
in the Aztec or Mexica pantheon.
And we see her not only in ceramic,
but also in stone sculpture.
- [Steven] The association with maize is immediate.
We can see that she's framing her face
with four ears of corn.
But this is such a wonderfully dense sculpture.
- [Lauren] Beyond holding the ears of corn,
which I should note are red and dark blue or black,
making reference to the different types of maize,
we see her face here behind the corn,
her eyes painted looking out at us,
her mouth open with these large ear spools
and then framed by this fantastic
and very elaborate headdress.
- [Steven] Well, we know that costume was tremendously
important for the Aztecs, and this is a great example of it.
We can see, for instance, four circles that would,
in physical costume, have been pleated paper.
- [Lauren] Exactly, and so while all of this is in ceramic
it's referencing the types of ritual regalia
that would have been used.
- [Steven] And this is exceptional because we have so much
of the polychrome, that is of the paint,
of the color, that still survives.
We can see reds and blues and whites and blacks.
- [Lauren] Which are some of the primary colors
that you see in Aztec art.
And what's wonderful here is not only that we have this
elaborate headdress fairly intact,
but also the rest of her costume, like her skirt.
In this very rectangular block-like construction,
much of the polychrome still exists
where we have these red bands.
- [Steven] It reminds me of architecture.
It seems as if the headdress is so elaborate,
it is as if she is wearing a building.
- [Lauren] They're almost obscuring
or really downplaying the face.
- [Steven] Although the face is so present,
she's coming out at us with a kind of intensity
that captures my attention.
- [Lauren] This particular face would have emphasized
this experience that one would have if you were to walk
into a temple and to see an object like this
that's emitting burning materials in its body.
- [Steven] And the smoke would be rising up
from behind this, it would have been tremendously dramatic.
Corn is so central to the development
of Mesoamerican culture
- [Lauren] Maize is the staple food crop.
And that is very true of the Aztecs as well,
because we don't only see this particular goddess
whose name again is Seven Serpent
or Chicomecoatl in Nahuatl,
but we see other versions of maze deities like Xilonen
who is the maize goddess affiliated with young corn.
And we even see corn in a variety of other objects
because as the cornerstone of the diet,
it also became invested
with these important sacred meanings.
- [Steven] And the cobs themselves
are so beautifully articulated.
And it reminds me of so many other sculptures
by the Aztecs of other foodstuffs.
In the same gallery this marvelous
representation of a squash.
And corn and squash together with beans
create a perfect protein.
- [Lauren] And so if we're talking about this deity
within the religious practices of the Aztecs,
they had a very active ritual calendar.
And many of these monthly festivals would revolve
around maze deities, including Seven Serpent here.
- [Steven] And it would've been on those feast days
that corn would have been enjoyed.
- [Lauren] And so there would have been special tamales
distributed to people to be eaten during these festivals
as a very potent, very sensual in terms of using many
different senses, reminder of the centrality of maize.
(jazzy piano music)