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Gold bells in the shape of turtles, monkeys and owls. A hand-sized figure made of 22 gold and silver plates that blows through a snail’s horn and was once filled with hallucinogenic drugs for inhalation. Golden breast shields with inlaid mother-of-pearl, golden helmets, golden beasts with buttocks made of emerald: it sparkles and shines in the showcases of this exhibition with art from pre-Columbian America. And that borders on a miracle.
Because when the decline of the indigenous civilizations began with the arrival of the Spaniards in the 16th century, the main interest of the conquerors was this yellow metal. They looted palaces and tombs, melted down the treasures and transported them to Europe. So few of these treasures have survived that 30 years ago it was assumed that the art of Mesoamerica was limited to stone and ceramics. Only recent excavations have corrected this view and allowed conclusions to be drawn about the function of precious metals and objects of value in these early civilizations. Curator Joanne Pillsbury:
“Materials were used to evoke the divine”
“These materials were used to evoke the divine. They were believed to be alive. They played a crucial role in maintaining power and impeding ideas. But more importantly, they gave people a feeling for theirs on a very existential level Mediated space in the universe. “
The exhibition in the New York Metropolitan Museum covers the period from 1000 BC to the 16th century and an area that stretches from present-day Peru to Mexico.
It becomes clear that every civilization had its own value system. The Olmecs and Mayans, for example, valued jade far more than gold. A ceremonial ax from the seventh century BC has the shape of a supernatural being and, with its shimmering green, competes with any golden counterpart. The Incas, on the other hand, loved feathers and textiles. Hundreds of thousands of macaw feathers are knotted together to form a blue-yellow curtain that could have adorned the wall in the hall of a king’s daughter around the seventh century. A tiny, colorful tunic made of natural fibers, a sack and a cover belong to the finely crafted figure of a thumb-sized child. What is less beautiful is the idea that these are probably grave goods from children, which the Incas ritually sacrificed in order to enlarge their empire.
“Luxury objects were small, light and valuable”
Travel was important, be it to the afterlife or to neighboring peoples with whom to trade or to impress. Precious items were always taken. Joanne Pillsbury:
“Luxury objects were by definition small and light, but valuable. They could be transported over long distances. And so, with their help, ideas and traditions were exchanged over kilometers and ages.”
The worlds in which these ideas and traditions thrived did not survive. The glimpse into the treasure chambers, which we can catch thanks to this New York exhibition, gives an idea of what went down with these worlds.
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