Maya

children’s guide

Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya
national gallery of art, washington 4 april – 25 july 2004 · fine arts museums of san francisco,
california palace of the legion of honor 4 september 2004 – 2 january 2005

Cancun
Chichen Itza
Mérida

yucatan
Jaina Island

quintana
roo

gulf of
mexico

campeche

caribbean
sea

mexico

Calakmul
Belize City
Palenquebelize
Tikal

Piedras Negras
Tonina

chiapas

Yaxchilan
Bonampak

gulf of
honduras

guatemala
honduras
Copan

Guatemala City

el salvador
pacific ocean

Mesoamerica

The Maya
They were artists, mathematicians, and scribes, warriors,
weavers, and astronomers. In the rainforests of Mesoamerica, they built the most sophisticated civilization the
New World had ever seen.They developed a complex
writing system, invented the idea of zero, and tracked
the stars and planets more accurately than anyone else.
Since European explorers first found the crumbling
ruins of Maya cities in the sixteenth century, the Maya
have slowly given up their
secrets. In this exhibition
you will discover the Maya,
too. You’ll see works they
made between about 
 and , whentheir
civilization was at its peak.
Most of them come from
the courts of Maya kings.
By about , the
greatness of Maya civilization had passed. Five hundred
years later, more than half the population died of new
diseases brought by Spanish conquerors. But the Maya
people survived. Today some six million Maya live in
Mexico and Central America—and probably a million
more have settledin the United States. Maya culture is
diverse and alive, rich with traditions from the past.
Maybe you have Maya friends.

1 · Maya woman carrying flowers through a
market in Chichicastenango, Guatemala

room 1

2

Kings and Courts
Ancient Maya society was organized into city-states ruled
by kings. Cities traded with one another and competed for
precious goods like jade and thebrilliant feathers of the
quetzal bird. They made treaties — or war. Fortunes rose
and fell, but no city ever controlled the whole Maya world.
The largest cities had sixty thousand people or more and
hundreds of buildings. Temples and palaces were painted
red and decorated with sculpture. Temple-pyramids rose
thirty stories high.
The Maya ruler was at the center of the city’s political,economic, and religious life. His role on earth mirrored
the role of the gods. He styled his appearance to match the
corn god and wore ornaments made of jade and quetzal
feathers. Green like the leaves of corn, they symbolized fertility and wealth. When he donned ceremonial costumes
and the masks of gods, the king not only looked like those
gods — he became like them.

3

4

^ meet one of themost famous of all maya kings —

the great Pakal from Palenque. This portrait was found
buried under his tomb. Pakal became king in  when
he was twelve years old and ruled until he died in  —
a very long life in ancient times. He and his sons turned
Palenque into a splendid city.
2 · Ruins of Maya
architecture at Palenque
3 · Cylinder vase
with lords and cloth,
(“Fenton Vase”),Nebaj,
Guatemala, 600 – 800,
ceramic, Courtesy
of the Trustees of
The British Museum
4 · Portrait head of
Pakal, Palenque, Mexico,
c. 650 – 683, stucco,
Museo Nacional de
Antropología – inah,
México
5 · Mask, Calakmul,
Campeche, Mexico,
600 – 800, jade with
obsidian and shell,
Museo Arqueológico de
Campeche “Fuerte de
San Miguel,” – inah,
México

5

6

7

The Maya courtincluded many people beyond the royal
family: attendants to offer food and drink, servants with
flysweeps and fans, singers, musicians, and entertainers.
There were also priests, diplomats, and warriors. Hunchbacks and dwarfs were trusted advisers.

8

maya beauty
Have you noticed that Maya men
and women — and gods — have a
certain “look”? Their ideal of beauty
was modeled on the corn...