Page 567 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

plex culture. If they were commoners they would
attend the telpochcalli and learn the rudiments of
their fathers' trade. They were also taught to con-
trol their sexual impulses by self-sacrifice.
Knowing this, the unusual nature of this sculp-
ture, of which type no more than ten exist,
becomes evident. The figure of a nude young man
with an erect penis, a state that would have been
considered antisocial in public, comes from the
city of Texcoco, where this type of figure was
probably placed in the interior of a temple and out
of the view of the general public. The phallic
imagery is associated with male puberty. The
awakening of male sexuality is associated with the
spring, bringing with it the heat of the sun and its
rays which, like the penis, generate fertility.
Texcoco was one of the settlements in the
Valley of Mexico that had a long cultural history.
Its origins date back to at least the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries, when the group of hunters
and warriors known as the Chichimecas of Xolotl
entered the civilizing process. They intermarried
with the ancient agricultural cultures that existed
in this Mesoamerican region and founded a
metropolis that was to become famous for its cul-
tural development, Texcoco. This city was known
for its libraries rich in codices, for the poet-king
Nezahualcoyotl (cat. 373) who ruled there, and for
its status as the center of activity for many crafts-
men and artists.
The quality of this piece gives testimony to the
excellent workshops of sculptors in Texcoco. The
artist gave the figure a well-proportioned phy-
sique of great aesthetic quality. The youth has no
hair and has perforations on the ear lobes, which
indicate that human hair was placed on his head
and that he was adorned with real ear ornaments.
F.S.

397**

YOUNG WOMAN KNEELING

Aztec
stone
5
396 32 X 20 X 15 (l2 /8 X f/8 X 5%J
NUDE YOUNG MAN centimeters (5 feet 3 inches) for men and 148 cen- CNCA—INAH—MEX, Museo National de
timeters (4 feet 10 inches) for women. Antropologia, Mexico City
Aztec The Aztecs had a highly developed concept of
stone restraint in dress and social conduct. The evidence Aztec sculptures give us an insight into the tradi-
7
7
5
55 x 20 x 15 (2i /s x /8 x 5 /s) collected by the sixteenth-century chroniclers tions, social structure, and world view of these
y
CNCA—INAH—MEX, Museo National de abounds with examples regarding the control that ancient peoples. This figure from the Valley of
Antropologia, Mexico City each individual exerted over his acts, his dress, Mexico portrays a young girl seated in public
and his language. Respect for and obedience to the on her legs, kneeling. It was the posture that
The physical characteristics of the Aztec people authorities, gods, elders, and traditions were espe- women had to adopt socially and the position in
can be recognized in their sculpture. Their skin cially exalted. At the age of puberty, it was com- which women carried out their work. The figure
color ranged from light to dark brown. They had pulsory for young men to attend public schools evidently represents an adolescent since her
straight black hair, little tendency to baldness, and where they became interns for five years and were breasts have not grown.
hairless faces, with dark fairly wide eyes, high taught according to their social class. If they were She is dressed in the traditional skirt that
foreheads, broad noses, and very prominent noble they would attend the elite school known as covers the lower section of the body and the
cheekbones. Their average height was about 160 the calmecac and learn about their deep and com- quechquemitl, a kind of rhomboidal blouse with

566 CIRCA 1492