Page 568 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

398 the female genitalia—very rare in the artistic tra-
dition of that time —leave no doubt that this
NUDE WOMAN sculpture is intended to exalt female sexuality. It
is one of the few Aztec sculptures that express
Aztec sensuality.
stone
2
7
3
146 x 40 x 25 (57 /2 x i$ /4 x 9 /s) The artist shaped the woman's waist as a thin
line from which the torso builds to solid shoul-
CNCA—INAH—MEX, Museo National de ders; although her arms are broken, we can imag-
Antropologia, Mexico City ine that they were flexed and directed toward the
front. The breasts are very small, like half spheres
This figure is the best evidence of the great plastic that cling to the body. The quadrangular hollow
quality achieved by the art of Texcoco during the between them would originally have contained a
Aztec era. Its proportions are almost perfect. The bead or a jade figure, the well-known "green
thighs and the lower part of the legs, the curve stone heart" that imaginatively gave life to these
outlining the lower abdomen, and the marking of images. The face has a stern expression. The hol-

a hole in the middle for the head. This piece of
clothing is still worn by some indigenous peoples
of Mexico, but today it is short and almost orna-
mental, and a blouse with sleeves introduced after
the Spanish conquest is worn underneath. In the
pre-Hispanic period it covered the entire upper
body. The garment on this figure, falling in a
triangle in the front and back, is notable for its
rich workmanship adorned by a fringe or border
of small spheres or cloth tassels.
The young woman's status as a member of the
elite is conveyed by her fine jewels: circular ear-
rings possibly of precious metal and an elegant,
naturalistic necklace of three rows of jade beads
that is very similar to necklaces that have been
discovered in archaeological excavations. The
headdress is a band that girds the whole head. It
too has a row of spheres as an adornment on the
upper part and two large tassels hanging on both
sides of the face. Above these the artist depicted
earrings, which in reality were probably covered
by the cloth adornments.
Some scholars consider this headdress to be
characteristic of the goddess of food and water.
Accordingly, despite her naturalism, this figure is
probably a representation of the female power of
nature, the generative principle. In this sculpture,
this force is envisioned in the dry season of the
year waiting for growth, maturity, and fertility
through the action of heat and water. This is why
it is represented as a young girl of the nobility,
restrained and elegant.
Red color, which was characteristic of the
goddess of food, still covers the figure's face. F.S.

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