Description
Honorable Mention, ALAA Book Award, Association for Latin American Art/Arvey Foundation, 2016
Between AD 650 and 950, artists on the small Central Mexican city-state of Cacaxtla covered the walls of their most important sacred and public spaces with dazzling Work of art of gods, historical figures, and supernatural creatures. Testimonies of a richly interconnected ancient world, the Cacaxtla paintings present an impulsively deep knowledge of the art and religion of the Maya, Zapotec, and other distant Mesoamerican peoples. Painted all the way through a period of war and shifting alliances after the fall of Teotihuacan, the Work of art’ distinctive fusion of cosmopolitan styles and subjects claimed a powerful identity for the beleaguered city-state.
Presenting the first cohesive, art historical study of all of the painting corpus, The Work of art of Cacaxtla demonstrates that these magnificent artistic endeavors constitute a sustained and local painting tradition, treasured by generations of patrons and painters. Exhaustive chapters on every of the mural programs make it conceivable to see how the Cacaxtla painting tradition developed through the years, responding to political and artistic challenges. Lavishly illustrated, The Work of art of Cacaxtla illuminates the agency of ancient artists and the dynamics of artistic synthesis in a Mesoamerican context, offering a valuable counterpoint to studies of colonial and up to date art operating on the intersection of cultural traditions.