ArtH - Mesoamerica (pre/post conquest)

part of the basilica of di San Marco

• beginning of elites commissioning their own small churches → incorporating biblical scenes

codices

• recorded history, religion and political life through painted books called Codices (instead of alphebetical writings)

  • mostly included records of monarch families/growth and expansion of aztec polity

  • mostly documented the journey from aztlan → tenochtitlan (shown through footprints, mapped routes, place glyphs)

Venetian Personifications

• Sarcophogus of the Doge (Tomb of Doge Pietro Mocenigo)

  • multiple statues of him at different points in life (included different successes that he had)

  • outermost figures are protectors

explain Mexica people and the founding of Tenochtitlan

Mexica people = nomads

• migrant group settles in Tenochtitlan and forms Aztec Empire

• land = many pyramids, palaces, aqueducts, close connection to nature

relic/sacrifice object from aztec empire

• birds = connection to the gods

  • supposed to physically represent the gods

• Cihuateol = stone sculpture depicting female wearing skirt

  • supposed to capture spirit of new born child after mother dies from birth

Hireoglyphs vs pictographs

pictographs=aztec, more symbolic to what the message is trying to convey

mesoamericas post-conquest

• Monastic order arrived with military

• conversion to christianity → especially to indigenous peoples

• rise of Casta paintings → showcasing diversity in civilization (very fictional → made to downplay the realities of colonialism)

Florentine Codex

commissioned by monk to record all details of rituals from pre/post conquest of meso america

• 12 volumes document culture, economic status, natural history

Zocalo

• town square with palace, markets, and church

• churches used to communicate dominance

• Church of San Francisco → built on top of indigenous remains

  • erased passed history