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"Between AD 650 and 950, a small city-state in central Mexico produced dazzling murals of gods, historical figures, and supernatural creatures on the walls of its most important sacred and public spaces. This study explores how the Cacaxtla murals constitute a sustained and local painting tradition, in which generations of ancient Mexican artists, patrons, and audiences created a powerful statement of communal identity that still captures the imagination"--
List of contents
List of Illustrations and Tables
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Cacaxtla in Context
The Acropolis and Its Paintings
Greater Cacaxtla-Xochitécatl
Diego Muñoz Camargo's Description of Cacaxtla
Problems of Evidence
Between Powerful Neighbors
Cacaxtla among the Epiclassic City-States
Art and Identity
Chaos Again
2. The Murals
Materials and Techniques
Artists
Chronology
3. The Feathered Serpent and the Captive Stair: Polemics of Style
The Serpent Corridor
Feathered Serpents
Aquatic Borders
Feathered Serpents and Aquatic Borders
The Afterlife of the Feathered Serpent
The Captive Stair
Text and Image
A Foreign Style?
Reconsidering Captive Art
Polemics of Style
4. The Temple of Venus: Astral Bodies
Style
Venus/Star Symbolism
Bilingualism and Polyvalence
5. The Battle Mural: Violence in the Plaza
Time and Inevitability
Doubling
Patterns of Naming
The Dangers of Difference
The Battle Mural in Mesoamerican Context
Burial
6. The Red Temple: Maize in the Underworld
A Merchant God and His Wares
Painting Luxury
Of Maize, Cacao, and Men
Supernatural Landscape
7. Structure A: The Mountain of Sustenance
The Portico and Jamb Murals: A Portrait of the Altepetl
Guardians and Antecedents
Names and Dates
Duality and Difrasismo
Sustenance Mountain
Continuity and Change
Painted Earth: The Inner Mural
Later Interventions: Blood and Clay
Buried Paintings
Conclusion
Appendix: Radiocarbon Dates for the Cacaxtla Murals
A Review of Radiocarbon Dating and Reporting
Early Classic Radiocarbon Dates at Cacaxtla
Radiocarbon Dates Associated with Mural Painting
Chronology of the Cacaxtla Paintings
Notes
Bibliography
