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BLACK AND WHITE PROJECT: INFLUENCES ON AZTEC ART Black and White Project: Influences on Aztec Art and Design Regan E. Elliott Auburn University 1 BLACK AND WHITE PROJECT: INFLUENCES ON AZTEC ART 2 The Aztecs were a rich culture that was made up of the diverse inhabitants. According to the ancient history encyclopedia, this diversity made their art the most varied of all the ancient civilizations. The Aztec’s built their empire based on war and religion .In Aztec society, religion was the most important factor to changing different areas of their culture such as their economy, social mobility, and especially war. To the Aztecs war was an article of religious faith. Aztec’s are known for their brutal sacrifices and warrior mentalities. These peoples were much more complex than just brutal warriors, the Aztecs were very spiritual and had a great respect for their deity. The Aztec’s focus on religion, war, and life and death influenced their art and design. Their art helped to expand their political powers and to create prosperous life for their people. The Aztecs’ art had common themes such as stone sculptures, intricate pottery, and most famously, their metal work. The art normally represented people, animals, deity, and reflected the importance of fertility and agriculture. Aztec art was primarily a form of religious expression and a means of paying tribute to the gods (Aztec Art). The Aztec religion is based on mythology. They were polytheistic. According to the Britannica Encyclopedia, their religion was syncretistic. They shared many belief principles with peoples that came before them, more specifically the Mayan Empire. They believed that the current earth was the last in a series of creations. They believe that they were located between systems of thirteen heavens and nine underworlds (Aztec People 2014). The two main gods were Huitzilopochtli, the god of war and sun, and Tlaloc, the rain god. These two gods influenced the Aztec art in that they were both given temple on top of the Templo Mayor pyramid. Other gods in the Aztec religion were Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent god;; Tezcatlipoca, the supreme god at Texcoco;; BLACK AND WHITE PROJECT: INFLUENCES ON AZTEC ART 3 Xipe Totec, the god of spring and agriculture;; Xiuhtecuhtli, the god of fire;; Ometeotl, the creator god;; and Miclantecuhtli, the god of the dead. The Aztecs like most early civilizations believed that they had to make the gods happy and that kept chaos away. They lived in fear of disasters (A History of World Societies). The Aztecs are famous for their rituals involving human sacrifices. These sacrifices were made in order to “feed” the statues of the gods-­that the sun needed human blood to keep them from disasters. In fact, most of Aztec architecture was built for sacrificing. There were three methods of human sacrifice 1) the heart was removed 2) the human was decapitated or 3) the human fought to the death against a well-­
trained group of warriors (Aztec Civilization). Sacrificing ones-­self, whether in war or in a ritual was seen as a great honor. The famous Sunstone or calendar stone was influenced by their mythology in that it depicts the ages of the five suns. In the center of the sunstone is a representation of one of the gods. According to the ancient art encyclopedia it is either the sun god, Tonatiuh, or the night sun god, Yohualtonatiuh, or the primordial earth monster. The snake is used to represent their god, Quetzalcoatl (Aztec Art). The sun-­ stone is filled with various symbols and depicts many elements of the Aztec mythology. Every single detail and the way the stone is laid out hark back to their views on the world. Aztec art was not created for admiration only. It was created to serve a special purpose. It was functional and practical. The Aztecs, being warriors, did not romanticize anything;; they depicted it realistically. The sculptures were created to worship and pay reverence to the gods. The temples were built for the noble, sacrifices, and worship. BLACK AND WHITE PROJECT: INFLUENCES ON AZTEC ART 4 Most of their art was a way to symbolically tell a story. Their existence and way of life revolved around keeping their gods happy. They lived, breathed, and died trying to please their god. They created an advanced system of agriculture and aquaculture to please their deity. So religion is truly the only influence on the Aztec’s art and design because every other aspect of their culture was influenced by their religion. The Aztec’s didn’t do anything without a religious purpose behind it. BLACK AND WHITE PROJECT: INFLUENCES ON AZTEC ART Bibliography 5 The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. Aztec (people). Retrieved
September 9, 2014.
Cartwright, M. (2014, January 6). Aztec Art. Retrieved September 8, 2014.
Cartwright, M. (2014, February 26). Aztec Civilization. Retrieved September 9,
2014.
McKay, J., & Hill, B. (1988). The Americas. In A history of world societies (Ninth
ed., pp. 313-320). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.