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rr m ir UM Pub 'eoccasion oftheexhibition TheAztecEmpire red by FelipeSolis Solomon R.Guggenheim Museum,NewYork October 15, 2004-February 13, 2005 TheSolomon R.Guggenheim Museum gratefullyacknowledgesthe assstanceofCONACULTA-INAH inorganizing the loansfrom Mexico. 4ACONACULTA INAH^ * Thisexhibition isorganized bytheSolomon R.Guggenheim Museum in collaboration with theConsejo Nacional para la Cultura y lasArtes(CONACULTA) itituto Nacional deAntropologia e Historia (INAH). Major sponsors of this exhibition are © = Banamex_ S^ ~^~~~ Citigroup, Televisa Additional support provided by j^ ucvirn PEMEX Thisexhibition hasalsobeen made possible in part byan indemnityfrom the Federal Councilon theArtsand the Humanities, together with thegenerous supportofthe LeadershipCommittee for TheAztecEmpire,GRUMA,ALFA, and Con Edison. Transportation assistance provided by aeromexico Media support provided byThirteen/WNET. Special thanksto the EmbassyofMexico in the U.S., the Embassyofthe UnitedStatesin Mexico,and theConsulateGeneral ofMexico in NewYork. TheAztecEmpire e2004 InstitutoNacionaldeAntropologiae Historia/CONACULTA. 14TheSolomon R.Guggenheim Foundation, NewYork. All rightsreserved. ISBN 321-7 (hardcover) ISBf. ftcover) ."-nheim Museum Publications 107' ue )128 Art Publishers I fid floor N irjOO(detail of - I * V . \ / t * h* -4 • > <*M hmt *> ^ '^? K> f Contents Introduction 26 FelipeSolis Art in the Aztec Empire 18 Traces of an Identity Beatrizde la Fuente The Aztecs and the Natural World 56 The Basin of Mexico as a Habitat for Pre-Hispanic Farmers William Sanders T. 70 The Harmony between People and Animals in the Aztec World Mercedes de la Garza The Aztecs and Their Ancestors 81 Precolumbian Man and His Cosmos FelipeSolis 100 Origins and Forms of Art in the Aztec Empire FelipeSolis lin The Olmec Ann Cyphers Hi Teotihuacan Linda Manzanillu 121 Tula and the Tolteca \ Diehl Thejemplo Mayor ;• / Excavations at the Templo Mayor Eduardo Matos Moctezuma / 16 280 The Templo Mayor at Tenochtitlan The Puebla and Tlaxcala Valleys JuanAlberto Roman Berrelleza Veronica Velasquez 284 Aztec Religion The Domain of Coatlalpan 168 JoseLuis Rojas Martinez Aztec Religion: Creation, Sacrifice, and Renewal Karl Taube 288 The Mixteca 178 NellyM. Robles Garcia Axis Mundi Roberto VelascoAlonso 300 The Huaxteca and the Totonaca 194 FelipeSolis Gods and Rituals Guilhem Olivier The Tarasean Empire 212 310 Painted Books and Calendars The Tarasean Empire Elizabeth HillBoone Phil C. Weigand Aztec Society Tarasean Art 222 Roberto VelascoAlonso Nobles and Commoners MichaelE. Smith The Fall of the Empires 230 33i Everyday Life in Tenochtitlan The Conquest as Seen by the Mexica-Aztecs Michael E. Smith Miguel Leon-Portilla 312 The Aztec Empire The Spanish Conquest of Tenochtitlan 250 Pablo Escalante Gonzolbo The Aztec Empire RichardFJownsend Catalogue Checklist 264 351 The Provinces of the Aztec Empire Frances F. Berdan Bmibliography 270 The Population of the Mexico and Toluca Valleys Perla Valle Perez Preface THEVISUALNARRATIVE UNFOLDING BEFOREVISITORSTOTHE EXHIBITION THEAZTECEMPIREEXPOSESSOMEOFTHE hidden recesses ofan essentially religious and military culture that lived in splendor and dis- appeared tragically. In less than one hundred years, the Aztecs managed to erect a unique empire from a vastly stratified society, as well as to create a strict educational system and solid agricultural economy. They formed strategic military alliances, conquered domains near and far, imposed a harsh tributary system, and established an intricate network of trade and commerce. Perhaps even more noteworthy was the level of aesthetic excellence the Aztecs achieved in stone, feather, and metalwork, in ceramics, architecture, chronicles, and poetic utterances-to mention only some of the skills that formed the "vital energy" impregnating their life, as the critic Paul Westheim has written. Nourished by the cultural legacy of their predecessors, such as the Olmec, Teotihuacan, and Toltec peoples; imbued with the wisdom culled from subjugated provinces; and influ- enced by the craftsmanship of the few peoples who defied them and maintained their independence, such as the Purepecha (Tarascans), the Aztecs excelled in a wide range of disciplines. Reflecting a close relationship with nature and the gods of a vast pantheon, these disciplines included observation of the celestial bodies; botany and herbal medicine; mathe- matics and pictographic writing; monumental architecture and art. The comprehensiveness ofthe exhibition enriches our understanding ofthis extraordinary Mesoamerican civilization, whose veneration of the sun flooded sacrificial stones with the blood of its victims. In stark contrast, those who carved these very stones would refer to friends as "perfumed flowers." It has been a great honor for the Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes and the Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia to collaborate with the Guggenheim. The pres- entation of extraordinary archeological objects and masterpieces of the pre-Hispanic world at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York provides an invaluable tool for gaining a greater appreciation of the cultural legacy that is a source of pride for all Mexicans. When considering the workson view, it iseasy toconcur with Henry Moore, the renowned British sculptor of universal resonance, who spoke of Mexican stone sculpture's "truth to material, its tremendous power without loss of sensitiveness ... its approach to a full three- dimensional conception of form." The dawning of the sixteenth century brought with it the fall of the Aztecs, but their brilliant and powerful creations remain and will, to paraphrase Westheim, prove impervious to time and the notions ofspace and subject matter. Their songs still resonate-the remains of the Templo Mayor, the fragments, many colossal in scale, of an art whose disquieting beauty filled the teeming horizon of an empire that dominated Central Mexico. Sari Bermudez President, Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes (CONACULTA)