Book Description
The finest museum of archaeology and anthropology in the Western hemisphere, the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City owns the world's most impressive collection of pre-Columbian Mexican art, including sculpture, painting, pottery, and other works. Since it was founded in 1964, it has displayed and studied the fascinating art, artifacts, and cultures of the pre-Columbian Mexican world and its descendants, the indigenous peoples of Mexico.
Published to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the museum, this beautiful and comprehensive survey explores both its collections and its role as a national institution. The book includes 450 illustrations, many of them newly photographed masterpieces by the Mexica (Aztecs), Mayas, and other important pre-Columbian cultures, as well as sections on the archaeology and the contemporary ethnography of Mexico. Also featured are writings by foremost Mexican art historians and anthropologists. This noteworthy book serves as both an introduction to, and a complete documentation of, one of the world's great museums. AUTHOR BIO: Felipe Solís is the director of the National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City.
About the Author
Felipe Solís is the director of the National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City.
National Museum of Anthropology. Mexico City FROM THE PUBLISHER
Published to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the museum's founding, this volume explores both the museum's collection and its role as a national cultural institution. Included among the more than 450 illustrations, many of them new photographs taken especially for this book, are pre-Columbian masterpieces such as Mixtec gold pendants worn to evoke the souls of fallen warriors, two-headed clay figurines associated with the Mesoamerican concept of the duality of life, utilitarian vessels carved from obsidian in the form of indigenous animals, and intricate jade masks placed in burial sites. An array of curators and scholars contribute essays on the Mexica (Aztec), Maya, and Toltec Nahua peoples; clues about life in the ancient Toltec metropolis of Tula, and in nearby Teotihuacan; the contemporary ethnography of Mexico; and the historical background of the site, construction, and architecture of the museum itself. This publication is both an introduction to and a complete documentation of one of the world's great museums.
Art & Photography
Book Info
