Synopses & Reviews
This book is the first comprehensive study and reinterpretation of the unique arts of Teotihuacan, including architecture, sculpture, mural painting, and ceramics. Comparing the arts of Teotihuacan - not previously judged "artistic" - with those of other ancient civilizations, Ester Pasztory demonstrates how they created and reflected the communityand#8217;s ideals.
Most people associate the pyramids of central Mexico with the Aztecs, but these colossal constructions antedate the Aztecs by more than a thousand years. The people of Teotihuacan, who built the pyramids as part of a city of unprecedented size, remain a mystery.
Synopsis
Teotihuacan in Mexico was the most powerful state in Mesoamerica between AD 1 and 750; its people built an ordered city of unprecedented size which contains the famous huge pyramids, yet the ethnic identity of its inhabitants, what language they spoke, the names of their rulers and the original name of the metropolis continue to be a mystery. This book is the first comprehensive study and reinterpretation of the arts of the Teotihuacan including architecture, sculpture, mural painting and ceramics. The study takes the approach that art holds the key to understanding these elusive people as art is a reflection of the society which created it. Pasztory argues that their art does not glorify the rulers because its people wished to create an image of an intergrated community. Instead their art glorifies nature and the supernatural and emphasizes egalitarian rather than aristocratic values, which suggests a unique community with a very individual way of life.
Synopsis
Most people associate the pyramids of central Mexico with the Aztecs, but these colossal constructions antedate the Aztecs by more than a thousand years. The people of Teotihuacan, who built the pyramids as part of a city of unprecedented size, remain a mystery.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [261]-272) and index.
About the Author
Esther Pasztory is the Lisa and Bernard Selz Professor in Pre-Columbian Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University. She teaches the art of both Mesoamerica and the Andes and focuses on the work of art as a source of evidence for the reconstruction of ancient cultures related to but separate from archaeological and textual data.