What is behind Mayan art and why do we feel so seduced by this culture? Mayan art is much more than history books outline. To speak of the Maya and their culture is to refer to a striking, advanced and mysterious civilization that has endured for centuries.

Its architectural structures, paintings or its pieces carved in stone and wood, as well as its unmistakable ceramics, precious stones, writings, modeling… they are all expressions that are still a cause for study today.

In one of the peaks of this civilization we have Mayan sculpture as one of the richest artistic manifestations of all time. Each piece is exquisite in shape and meaning.

Remembrance of Mayan Culture

The birth of Mayan art dates back to the late Preclassic period from 500 BC to 200 AD. After this time it reached its greatest peak in the classical period from 200 AD to 900 AD Over the hundreds of years, Mayan craftsmanship was clearly influenced by Olmec, Toltec and Teotihuacan cultures. Hence the richness of its artistic creations.

For centuries Mayan art remained invisible in the eyes of modern society as an object of cultural study. It wasn’t until 1913 that photographs and drawings of the most iconic monuments of the Classic Maya period were published for the first time.

The research was called “A Study of Mayan Art” and was produced by John Lloyd Stephens, Frederick Catherwood, Alfred Percival Maudslay, Teobert Maler and Désiré Charnay. From this publication, new investigations were born that have enriched the study and analysis of this so genuine and spectacular art.

The Mayans: Location

This Mesoamerican civilization settled in the southeast of Mexico. The most notable settlements were originally found in Yucatan, Campeche, Quintana Roo, Chiapas and Tabasco. However, these ancient cities exerted a great influence in the rest of Central America, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize and El Salvador. They were all important spaces where Mayan culture developed and established itself.

Now, let’s take a deep look at everything that the understanding of Mayan art today has contributed to the reconstruction of Central American history.

Maya Art: Sculptures, Paintings, Music and More

When we look at a Mayan painting or sculpture, we find artistic expressions brimming with symbolism and where the gods are represented above all else. Also, animals are part of this universe where it is even possible to interpret the daily life of our ancestors, through their rituals and customs.

If you want to know the most representative of this civilization, we leave you this summary of Mayan art with all the edges of this ancient culture.

Mayan Sculpture

Most of the sculptures of Mayan society represent human and animal forms carved in limestone, sandstone, jade, stucco and wood. Appreciating the Mayan sculpture means having expressions in relief, bas-relief and three-dimensional shapes available.

Although all the sculptures are worthy of admiration, there are some with greater importance than others due to technique, precision and meaning.

Did you know that the Mayans used chisel and hammer to sculpt their pieces and also devised advanced techniques to achieve very precise moldings? Yes, it seems incredible how they achieved exact finishes with it, using very abrasive methods with sand, rock crystal and even mollusk shells.

These are the pieces that you will surely want to know about Mayan sculpture:

Chinkultic Disk

It is one of the most outstanding pieces of Mayan culture. It shows a ball player. It was used to divide the terrain of the time for games. In addition, religious beliefs gave account that, at the time of placing the disc on the court, the match was consecrated.

If you want to see it in detail, the National Institute of Anthropology and History has high resolution images of this curious disk.

Stelae of Copán

These are monoliths sculpted in 3D located in Honduras. They’re about four meters high. No other stela is as perfectly carved as the one that can be seen at Copan.

The astronomical location reflects that they were used as a solar clock and have bases eight feet under the ground that served as a sanctuary to place offerings.

Estela Quiriguá

It is the highest known stela in the Mayan world. It is more than ten meters high and weighs approximately 65 tons. It is located in the east of Guatemala. The Quiriguá Estela was used for ceremonial and political events.

Chac Mol

It is a sphinx of human figure that is reclining holding a container over its belly. When studying it in precision, it is believed that it is a messenger of the gods and there are those who assure that the origin of this sculpture is Mayan-Toltec.

Slave Board

It is a low relief sculpted board and was found in the Mayan city of Palenque. Today you can appreciate it at the Alberto Ruz Lhuillier Palenque Site Museum.

Mayan Painting

Mayan art is more than sculptures, paintings are also the subject of study and admiration. The best representations are in their buildings, where they made murals to represent everyday life, battles and religious life.

The weather and climate have not been generous with these artistic manifestations and few murals have survived. However, Mayan painting is also found in vessels and codices.

Murals

You can appreciate the Bonampak murals in Chiapas. They are the best preserved to date. They were discovered in 1946, although the natives already knew of their existence long before. After being studied in detail, they have provided valuable information about the Mayan culture.

The murals date back to 790 and are in three chambers. In each one there are different scenes. Characteristics of the Mayan clothing of the time are exposed, elements of nature, nobles, musicians, royal buildings, among other details that are still part of the investigations.

Ceramic

The graphic representations found in Mayan ceramics are considered the best in the world because they were made with absolute sophistication. The painting technique was called slipware and consisted of creating a hard and shiny surface. With clay particles, ground clay was made to paint and then cook at low temperature.

Religious and mythological themes were drawn in ceramics. Pieces were painted for all occasions, from those that were used to decorate the houses of the rulers to the bowls to eat.

Codices

The ancient Mayan codices are considered an astronomical and religious treasure. They were books for a privileged elite who could read and write. In them you can see hieroglyphs and religious images.

They date back to pre-Hispanic times and some of the first centuries of the colonial era. History tells that they then ceased to be elaborated because they were associated with polytheism, a practice not approved by the Catholic religion. Those who wrote them were persecuted.

Colonialism destroyed many codices, but today you can meet four:

Dresden codex: There are 39 sheets written on both sides. Measuring 3.56 meters
Madrid Codex: It is the most voluminous of the Mayan codexes, it is 112 painted pages and in them are represented activities associated with a ritual calendar of 260 days
Paris Codex: This is a sacred book that originally had 24 pages, but due to deterioration today there are only 11 painted leaves left
Mayan Codex of Mexico: It is the oldest authentic manuscript in America. Its antiquity dates back to the years 1021 and 1154 of our era. You can see it exhibited at the National Museum of Anthropology located in Mexico City.

There is a fifth manuscript called Prague Codex. Although it is believed to be a Mayan codex, it is studied because it was modified by modern painting techniques.

Music

Did you know that many of the musical instruments of the Mayans were made with human bones? That’s right, but they also used animal remains, clay, palms, wood, stucco, copper, silver and gold.

Ceramic horns, ocarina, sea snail shells, trumpet flutes and drums. As well as whistles, rattles, scrapers, bells, drums, they are just some of the instruments used by the Mayans to create music.

For a long time, Mayan music was known only through reference to the instruments. Everything changed in 2011 when the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) carried out a study in which it was determined that the musical scale of the Mayan instruments was different from that used in Western cultures.

The Mayans had their own range that were sung in funeral and agricultural ceremonies, to ask the gods for rain and to imitate the sound of birds, the latter perhaps for hunting purposes.

If you want to know more about Mayan music, we leave you here the most representative musical instruments:

Chorti rattle: it is a percussion instrument that is described in the Dresden Codex, with perforations to decorate with a cosmic ideogram of five points in relation to the north, south, east, west and center.
Lacandón: similar to an oboe, it had seven holes to produce eight different sounds.
Flutes: One of the most representative flutes in Mayan culture contained a ball of clay in the duct that, when blown, rolled freely to produce a variety of tones. Flutes made of clay and some even human bones have been found.
Drums: they were made of wood; they were shaped with mud and the heads were made of wild boar skin. Some made with tortoise shells have also been found.
Trumpets: The Mayas made trumpets with sea snails, palm leaves or reeds molded with clay and stucco.
Whistles: In addition to being a musical instrument, whistles made with deer bones were used in hunting days.
Scrapers: they were phallus-shaped and made with human bones. They had a kind of denture that, when scraped, emitted sounds. Research suggests that this instrument was for exclusive use for erotic ceremonies and to pay tribute to the corpses of those who had a high hierarchy in life.
Rattles: this musical instrument has been found made of clay and wood, but also silver, copper and even gold. It was a sphere that had tiny stones inside and was supported with a wooden strip so that when shaken it would produce sounds.

Mayan Architecture: The materialized art

Considered the richest in the new world, Mayan architecture was absolutely complex and elaborated with a technology that remains astonishing today. One of its main features was the intricate carved stone found in the stepped pyramids of the Terminal Pre-Classic period.

Limestone was used for architectural buildings and was mixed with organic glue extracted from trees. We can divide the characteristics of Mayan architecture into two types: in stepped pyramids and in palaces.

Stepped Pyramids

They are large limestone structures and the main function of these buildings was to support a temple. They have a monumental plinth in which the sanctum sanctorum is observed, which is a place of worship for deities.

Here are the three Mayan pyramids you need to know:

Temple of Inscriptions

Built on a stepped pyramid, it is a religious building that tells the story of a royal family. It is located in the archaeological zone of Palenque in Mexico.

It was built in 675 AD and is one of the tallest pyramids (22.8 meters high) in the ancient city of the late Classic Maya period. It has two chambers and five entrances.

The name is due to the inscriptions found on the building that tell the life of King Pakal, a Mayan ruler who was on the throne from 615 to 683 AD.

Chichen Itza

I’m sure you’ve heard of Chichen Itza, one of the seven wonders of the world. In addition, it was declared by the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization (Unesco) in 1988 as a World Heritage Site.

In this Mayan city, the Kukulkan pyramid offers a spectacle when the sun goes down and during the spring equinox it attracts thousands of tourists. The Feathered Serpent is projected on its steps. That happens from March 21 to September 22, on one side of the pyramid. The play of light from the sun’s rays forms isosceles triangles that together make the shape of the sacred serpent.

Where is Chichen Itzá? To see this show you must get to the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico.

Bicephalic Snake Temple

It measures 70 meters high and is one of the tallest Mayan buildings in the American continent. It was built in 470 AD and 191,139 cubic meters of stone were used for its architecture.

It is a ceremonial funerary temple found in Tikal, Guatemala. It was restored in 1960 by the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania. It has eight lintel planks of which seven are preserved.

It is believed that the Mayan city of Tikal, where this temple is located, housed 100 thousand to 250 thousand inhabitants.

Mayan Palaces

They were large multi-story buildings that served as residence for the king and family. They were made of wood-coated stone. Because they were large, scholars of Mayan culture consider that they also served as administrative centers and spaces for parties and social events.

To talk about the Mayan palaces, we must refer to Palenque, which is considered a city within a thick jungle where one of the most striking palaces is located, very close to the Temple of the Inscriptions. In the palace today you can enjoy numerous rooms made especially for the monarchs.

Crafts That Break the Barriers of Space and Time

Mayan crafts are varied thanks to the use of a large number of materials. Among them, wood, oysters, vines, clay and stone. Other inputs that predominate in the elaboration of the pieces were animal skin, threads of different colors, sand and even human hair.

The interesting thing about Mayan crafts in Mexico is that even today there are those who follow in the footsteps of this civilization and make fabulous pieces. The fabric is one of the most notorious representations of the crafts of this civilization. It was believed to be a gift that the moon goddess bestowed on women.

Many of the crafts that are made and sold today in Mexico and Guatemala come from the Mayan culture, also the sale of Mexican crafts in the United States is influenced by the ancient civilization.

These are some of the pieces of craftsmanship that set the tone.

Hammocks

They are made with canvas fabric and several thin net-shaped strings. The Maya used the hammocks for rest. In Yucatan, Yucatecan Mayan crafts are an important source of income for the families who make them. Mayan crafts for children include pieces of these woven fabrics.

Masks

It was very common to make ceremonial masks. For the Mayans, they were the representation of the deities, mainly the God of Corn. The faces of animals and those of their monarchs are also popular, the latter masks as a way to preserve the image of important people even after death.

Tissues

They are characterized by mystical figures. Flowers, snakes, cobs, diamonds, frogs that filled wool fabrics or cotton with colors abound to make ponchos, skirts, handbags, tablecloths, quilts, among other things.

Pieces of Clay

In all the regions where the Mayans settled, clay was used to make pieces of exquisite beauty. Pots, pots, pitchers, vases, bowls. Some of these pieces can be seen today in museums of Mexican crafts in the United States.

The Ministry of Culture of Mexico has held exhibitions related to Mayan culture on several occasions to promote the promote knowledge and expansion of this art so rich in beauty and meaning.

Mayan Art