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Chapter 32, 33, & 34STUDY GUIDE

3 sections of slide based multiple choice

1 Thematic Essay

Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, 13e

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Figure 32-2 Mictlantecuhtli and Quetzalcoatl, from the Borgia Codex, Mixteca-Puebla, possibly from Puebla or Tlaxcala, Mexico, ca. 1400–1500. Mineral and vegetable pigments on deerskin, 10 5/8” X 10 3/8”. Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Rome.

The religious dichotomy of life and death retained its power in Postclassic societies. The illuminated page from the Borgia Codex featuring Mictlantecuhtli and Quetzalcoatl c.1400-1500 (32-2) presents a version of the cosmic diagram with a back-to-back representation of the gods of life and death. The Mixtec artist presented the outlined figures in strong color with controlled gestures; both gods are depicting the gravity of the balance. The gods maintain that equilibrium with the slow and composed gestures, thus the universe continues.

Narrative in Art

Who are represented and how are they significant?

Borgia Codex, Mictlantecuhtli and Quetzalcoatl (Figure 32–2). Mictlantecuhtli (white), god of death and Quetzalcoatl (black), god of life are depicted. The presentation of these two gods back-to-back signifies the duality and relationship life and death had for the Mesoamerican. They co-existed together, from life came death and from death came life; this is the ultimate balance.

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Figure 32-11 Eagle transformation mask, closed (top) and open (bottom) views, Kwakiutl, Alert Bay, Canada, late 19th century. Wood, feathers, and string, 1’10” X11”. American Museum of Natural History, New York.

The Northwest Coast of the United States also had rich traditions. The Kwakiutl used the transformation mask in the ritual or masked performance. The dancer would perform in flickering fire light. During the performance when a necessary transformation was to take place (following a recitation of the oral history or a myth), the mask wearer would turn from the audience and pull the string that would activate the transformation from character to character (32-11). These Kwakiutl transformation masks were painted and carved with exaggerated patterns. The broad patterns formed the totemic animal associated with that source. Another transformation mask, Raven c.1901, is a simple raven when closed, but when opened it reveals Raven of the Sea surrounded by sea creatures. An even more formidable transformation mask is Smiling Bull’s Head, 1902. Closed, the mask is a smiling bull’s head; with the second opening, it becomes sea raven inside the bull’s head; and with the third opening, it becomes man swallowed by a sea raven, swallowed by a bull’s head in three separate transformations.

How would this mask be used?

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Figure 33-13 Row of moai on a stone platform, Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Polynesia, 10th to 12th centuries. Volcanic tuff and red scoria.

What are these and where are they found? What do historians think may have been their use?

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Figure 34-9 Seated couple, Dogon, Mali, ca. 1800–1850. Wood, 2’ 4” high. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, (gift of Lester Wunderman).

The continuity between the living and the dead is an extremely important part of the worldview of most African peoples. The group consists of a vast number of individuals, some of whom are living, but many of whom are dead or yet to be born. The spirits of the ancestors, like the one from the Kongo of the Democratic Republic of Congo (34-7) or the Dogon couple from Mali (34-9), could aid the community in deal ing not only with the gods who controlled the spirits of nature, but also with more mundane affairs.

Figure 34-7 Yombe mother and child (pfemba) Kongo, Democratic Republic of Congo, late 19th century. Wood, glass, glass beads, brass tacks,and pigment, 10 1/8”high. National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C.

Human Body in Art

This piece has been on the AP Test

How does this figure represent royalty?

This figure represents royalty indicated by her carved cap, chest scarification, and jewelry. This image may commemorate an ancestor but it is more likely she represented the ancestress, the legendary founder of the clan, the genetrix.