The artistic manifestations of the Mayans are among one of the best of their kind during the pre-Hispanic era, not only for their artistic attributes and the application of methods for their elaboration, but also as a way to continue learning about this culture. Through this article, we invite you to know the Mayan painting and more.
Mayan painting
As a manifestation of their culture, the Mayan paintings reflect the perceptions, conceptions and assessments of their culture, environment and the world. To be something that is established in the demonstration of his paintings, especially in murals, also in porcelain and codices, which included numerous scenes with hieroglyphic writings that accurately manifested his daily life, beliefs, cults and even the Mayan calendar.
Techniques and Styles of Mayan painting
The techniques and methods used to carry out Mayan painting were perfected after the Teotihuacan incursion. Which began with a process of placing a layer of lime combined with sifted limestone, and natural glues on the surface where the mural will be made, this condescended the adequate absorption of the pigments to be placed later.
As for obtaining colors, they used the tempering technique, which was based on merging natural pigments with lime and organic adhesive substances, this provided a better adhesion of the paints, resisting the passage of time and climate change.
However, Mayan painting was very diverse and these differences were often reflected between Mayan communities in different regions. An example of this are the designs used in their arts, while in the central zone they usually used natural designs such as plants and animals, those in the north zone preferred designs with geometric figures.
Apart from the manifestations made in murals, the Mayans applied these arts to decorate and ornament objects such as clay pots, ceramics, walls and codices. These designs were so well elaborated that their finesse, finish and beauty did not go unnoticed.
Mural Paintings
The Mayan murals that were discovered and are present today, are wrapped in a context of their history, they narrate battles, ceremonial rites, sacrifices, trials, truces between civilizations and the war of the Spanish conquerors. Likewise, they detail the habits and customs of their day to day, as well as part of their mythological history, messages from their gods or merely floral designs.
It should be noted that Mayan painting stood out for its great realism and its perfect technique used. Among the most popular found works made by the Mayans, we have:
- Bonampak: In this temple, murals can be visualized in three different spaces, which have a manifestation in Mayan painting, which represents scenes with the nobility, battles, sacrifices and various aspects of the daily life of this society.
- San Bartolo: This is one of the most archaic manifestations of this culture; These murals were made on various stucco covers and painted using black, red, yellow and white. The story reflected here is that of the maize god and the twin hero Hunahpú, in which a double enthronement is symbolized. This Mayan painting can be found in the archaeological complex of the Mayans, in the town of San Bartolo in Petén - Guatemala.
The relevance of Mayan painting lies in the fact that they glorified historical circumstances and manifested various aspects of their culture.
Painted Ceramic
The classic Mayan artists knew with surprising comprehension, to couple artistic figures and hieroglyphs to establish complicated works in ceramics, in which their cosmogonic expertise and cultural tradition are evident; these works, are by recognition, among the most fantastic in the world.
The technical sophistication of the colored ceramics of the Mayans has no comparison with any other ancient or current culture in the world. Mayan potters shaped the pieces by hand, adding tiny rolls of clay to a tortilla-shaped base, to make harmonious and balanced works with very fine edges. Although it is true that this type of painting has been used in many cultures, none surpasses the Mayan in the high polishing of the surfaces, the wide range of colors and its exquisite finish.
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