CategoriesCultural and Religious Styles
Aztec Art
Art of the Mexica of Tenochtitlan, c.1325–1521: monumental stone sculpture, turquoise mosaic, featherwork, goldwork and painted books.
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About
The Mexica, known today as the Aztecs, built their capital Tenochtitlan on an island in Lake Texcoco from the 14th century, and by 1500 ruled a tribute empire across central Mexico. Their art drew on older traditions of the region and put them in the service of gods, war and the state.
Stone sculpture is the core. Carvers in basalt and andesite made dense, massive works such as the Sun Stone, cut in the early 16th century, and the colossal Coatlicue, whose skirt is woven of snakes and whose necklace is strung with hands and hearts. The round Coyolxauhqui relief, uncovered at the foot of the Templo Mayor in 1978, shows the moon goddess dismembered. Smaller arts were just as demanding: turquoise mosaic laid over wood, gold cast by lost wax, and featherwork assembled from tropical plumes. Painted screenfold books recorded calendars and rituals, and after the Spanish conquest of 1521 Indigenous painters carried the tradition into colonial codices.
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