I was instantly drawn to this mask because of the bright contrast in colors, its eerie likeness to a real human face, and the sense of power that it evokes. The likeness to a human face as well as the attributes it has of a supernatural deity are both evident in this mask. The combination of the aforementioned elements is quite spectacular. The human likeness of the skull as well as the very authentic-looking teeth make one think that Texcatlipoca dwelled among the Aztec society. Nevertheless, its human-like qualities only go so far. The mask’s determined, fixated eyes, zorroesque type mask within the mask and powerful mouth suggest a magical god. This mask left me with a peculiar feeling; although I felt this mask was gorgeous, I don’t know if I would have wanted to get too close. There was something the drew me in but kept me on edge at the same time.
According to the website of the British Museum, the god Texcatlipoca was indeed represented often by the black stripes on his face as well as displayed in his headdress. “The eyes are made of two orbs of polished iron pyrite framed by rings made of white conch (Strombus) shell.” The nose is also lined with a different type of thorny oyster red shell. The vastly diverse elements chosen for this mask made it truly unique.
I really enjoyed scrutinizing this mask. It made me think of modern times and the way that masks enter into our everyday life. The great difference for our main religion, Christianity, is that our God has much more human likeness than the many gods of the Aztecs. When we recreate scenes from the Bible, we play out the roles of Jesus, however masks are not needed. It makes me wonder that if the gods that we worship were more supernatural and magical, would we recreate them in different forms in order to give them life?
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aoa/m/mosaic_mask_of_tezcatlipoca.aspx
Hi Sara,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this mask too. I like how you point out it's human characteristics as well as what makes it not so human. I think its really unique that while it resembles a human face it is still very magical and god like. I also like the question you ask at the end of your blog, thats really interesting to think about and I wonder how we would recreate them in different forms. It shows the huge difference in their religion and gods and our religion and god.
I was also drawn the most to this mask while looking at the power point. If I am not mistaken this is a mask similar to the one that Montezuma presented to Cortes as a gift. While reading more detail about it, I was interested to find that they actually use a human skull as the molding, and the jaw moves, but the wearer cannot see because of the stone used as the eyes, but because this stone reflects well, one can only guess that the viewer actually can see a slight reflection of themselves in this deities eyes.
ReplyDeletevery interesting! the puzzling sensation that you had of being fascinated and fearful at the same time can be said of almost all of the masks...keeping us mystified but unwilling to unleash the wrath...whereas Jesus' human likeness ...maybe...allows us to be more comfortable? and therefore more likely to justify our non-compliance or misdeeds?
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