- Art from the city of the gods

294 Pages·1993·44.363 MB·English

by  Kathleen Berrin (Editor), Esther Pasztory (Editor)

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Art from
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Gods
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Edited by
Kathleen Berrin
\\D Esther Pasztor*
IT§UJ Thames and Iudson
I
Thf. Fine Arts Mi sei ms ok San Fran< is< o
Teotihiacan: CityoftheGods
The FineArtsMuseumsofSanFrancisco
M.H.deYoungMemorial Museum
26Maythrough31 October1993
Thisexhibition isorganizedbvTheFineArtsMuseumsof
SanFrancisco.Supportforthecatalogueismadepossible
bygenerousgrantsfrom theNational Endowmentforthe
HumanitiesandtheNationalEndowmentfortheArts.
Federalagencies.The\\'a\neJ. Holman,Jr.. 1963
CharitableTrustisprovidingadditionalfundingforthe
catalogue.
Copyright © 1993bvTheFine.ArtsMuseumsof
San Francisco
Firstpublishedin the UnitedStatesofAmericain 1993bv
ThamesandHudson Inc., 500FifthAvenue,NewYork.
NewYork 10110
.Ml rightsreserved. Nopartofthispublication maybe
reproducedortransmittedin anyformorbvam means,
includingphotocopv, recording,oranyotherinforma-
tionstorageandretrievalsystem,withoutpriorpermis-
sioninwritingfromthepublisher.
ISBN0-500-23653-4 (cloth)
ISBN0-88401-076-7 (paper)
Librarj of Congresscatalogue92-62139
From (OVER
l'oivHROME \1\sk (cat, no.67)
B\(Ki '
ASeri
hh from theTemple oi the Feathered Serpent,
imid "I the Sun
aDeity(cat.no.4)
\. ZonaArquelologiiade reotihuacan
I bound in Ilong K
Contents
Prefai i Ham S. Parkei HI
Foriword Maria TeresaFrancoyGonzalezSalas 9
A< knowi i dgments Kathleen Benin andEsther Pasztor) l<>
Envisioning \ (Itty
The I'I.k c Where Time Began: An An haeologist's 16
Inicipretation ofWhat 1[appened in Teotihua* .in Historj
ReneMil/an
Teodhuacan Unmasked: A View through An 44
EstherPasztory
TheRoleofTeodhuacan in MesoamericanArchaeology 64
Man Carmen Serra Puche
Unknown Treasures: The Unexpected in Teodhuacan An 74
Kathleen Benin
l\< overing mi Pasi
Daily Life in the Teodhuacan Apartment (lompounds 90
Linda Manzanilla
\hunan Sacrifice ai the Temple ofthe Feathered Setpent: 100
Recent DiscoveriesatTeodhuacan
Rubin Cabrera Castro
Funerary Practices and Human Sacrifice in Teodhuacan Burials 108
('.arias SerranoSanchez
What We Still Don't Know about Teotihu.u an /16
George /.. Cowgill
Beyond Teotihi vcan
Symbols, Signs, and Writing Systems 128
/.(.. Langley
W
The Age ofTeotihuacan and Its Mission Abroad /
Clemency Chase Coggins
Teodhuacan and lis Mexica Lega<j /56
Eduardo Mains Moctezuma and Leonardo I opez I ujdn
(AI VLOGUE OF OBJE< is 167
EstherPasztory with contributions by Clara I uz Diaz Oyarzabal,
Ruben Cabrera Castro, Wanen Barbour, EvelynChilds Rattray,
Cynthia Connies. Martha Carmonti Manas, and Leonardo
Ldpez Lujdn
Bibliography
Index

Preface
T
iinu11 \CAN:Cnra nu Gooslsthefirstcomprehensiveexhibitionevei
tofocuson theartsoi thisgreat ancientcivilization li hasbeen
ovei eight yearsin the making,andcontainsovei twohundred
obje<in drawn from collections in M< \i< o, 1 urope, and the l nited States
I he overwhelming majorit) <>l these nmks have nevei been seen outside
ol then homeinstitutions. Mam oi themwillbesurprising,because reoti
huacan was a unique am ient Mesoamerican ( ivilization, and Teotihuacan,
though vastl) important i<> Mexi<<>. ispoorl) understood in the United States.
The approximately sixt) worksfrom national Mexican collectionsare,
ol course, pri<elesscultural padimon) andamongthegreatest treasures
Mexicohastooffer. Main ol theseworkshaveonl) recentl) beendiscovered
h\ Mexicanarchaeologists, [he<oncept and evolution ol numerousas-
|)c( is of the exhibition have always been the result ol a < lose < ollaboration
between I he line ArtsMuseumsoi San Franciscoand Mexico'scultural
leaders. We areexceedingl) gratefultotheman) peoplein Mexicowho,
ovei ihe years, have <ontributed somuch tothisimportant project,and to
Mexico's leaderswhoallowed these treasured worksto travel toSanFrancisco,
Oui deepest thanks, also, to main lenders in the United Stales and
1 urope who have worked ( loseh with us in ordei to allow sicll.n pie<es in
their collections to travel i<> San Fran< is<<> loi ilus ex< lusive showing, and
tothesponsorswhohavegeneroush contributed toward the presentation
The exhibition and this publication are made possible b) generous grants
from the National Endowment for the Humanitiesand the National En-
dowment lot the Atis. Federal agencies. \ii transportfromMexicowasgra
ciousl) provided b) United Airlines. Additionalsupportfoi theexhibition
was provided l>\ ( orona & ( orona Light Beersand Hotel Nikkooi San
Francisco. Public programsweremade possible in part b) a grant bom
MetropolitanLife.The WayneJ. Holman.Jr., 1963< haritable rrustpro-
vided additional funding foi the publication.
Though ovei theyearscountless individuals have been involved in
select aspects ol the planning foi Teotihuacan: ( it) ojthe Gods, thecuratorial
woik has been thecollaborativeeffortol Kathleen Benin,( uratoi ol Vfrica,
Oceania, and the Americas atTheFine ^rtsMuseumsofSan Fram is<o.
and Esther Pasztory, Professoi ol Art History, < olumbia I niversity, New
Ybik. The concept oi the exhibition, the themes< hosen, and the intellec-
tual content were developed b) Pasztory, who is an important art historian
specializing in Teotihua<an and who hasdedicated mu< h oi hei life to the
stud) ol Teotibu.Kanartsincehei 1971 pioneering doctoral thesison the
muralsofTepantitla. The myriad museologh<il and administrative i.isks <,i
the exhibition and catalogue were the province ol Benin, who was( uratoi
in charge ol the Ieotihuacan murals proje« t, whi< h was ongoing between
1978and 1985. Assisted In man) membersol the Museums' staff, she supei
vised .ill aspectsol theexhibition, bom loan requests,display, public ity, and
education, toshaping it t<> lit the needsand tastesol a general audieme.
I he objec is in the exhibition were sele< ted l>\ both Pasztor) and
Benin, whowere aided in theii effortsb) the suggestions ol dozens ol a<\
risers throughout the United States and Mexito ovei the iourse oi five
years. loans bom Mexico required Benin. Pasztory, and others to parti< i-
pate in lengthydiscussionswith cultural leaders in Mexicobetween 1988
and 1993 regardingthe exhibition'sscope, interpretation, and content.
Keyagenciesin Mexicowere the Instituto Nacional deAntropologiae
Historiaand the ConsejoNacional paralaCulturaylasArtes, Relaciones
Exteriores, andofcouse the individual museums, especiallythe Museo
NacionaldeAntropologiaand the Museode laZonaArchaeologicade
Teotihuacan.
Teotihuacan: CityoftheGods wasconceived in 1986, following nearly
tenyearsofcooperation between TheFineArts MuseumsofSan Francisco
and Mexico'sInstitutoNacional deAntropologiae Historiainivolving the
jointcareand preservation ofalarge bequestofTeotihuacanwall frag-
ments. In 1985, afterconservationworkwascomplete, overhalfthe mural
collectionwasvoluntarilyreturned to Mexicoandcelebrated there in the
form ofaspecial exhibition at the Museo Nacional deAntropologia. The
goodwillresultingfrom this unprecedented model forthe care and treat-
mentofcultural patrimonylaid the foundation forthisexhibition and
publication on theartsofTeotihuacan.
Teotihuacan: CityoftheGodsisan extraordinaryartisticand cultural
eventwhich we celebrate in San Francisco. Itreflects the continued col-
laboration ofourrespective institutions,which hasstretchedoverfifteen
years.We are proud that thisexhibition hasbeen the catalvstforso much
newand original scholarship.
HarryS. ParkerIII
Director
The FineArts MuseumsofSan Francisco