GEMMA: Mayan Art

Mayan Art

The art produced in Maya is most deftly a reflection of their lifestyle and culture. Composed of paintings on plaster and paper, wood and stone carvings, clay models, and terra cotta figurines from molds, they work with resources they found available in nature in replacement of other highly developed materials such as metal.
Many of the great programs of Maya art, inscriptions, and architecture were commissioned by Mayan kings to embed their place in history. Works such as these are a reflection of the Mayan society and arts influence on the proplr at the time.

Mayan art of the Classical Era of around c.300 till 900 AD shows evidence and hints of advanced paintings, pottery and other Mayan ceramics. This era of art is considered by many as the most sophisticated and beautiful of the ancient New World.

Today's handicrafts are still produced using ancient techniques and retain their importance within the Maya culture. Maya's best known feature would have to be weaving as well as their textiles which were made from cotton and used by the ancient Maya just as they are today.

Painted cups and vases were used as representations and scenes of court life, while clay figurines portrayed members at service to the king. These depicted roles such as servants, dwarfs, hunchbacks, musicians, messengers, as well as priests. The Maya also made baskets, pottery and wood carvings of animals, saints and brightly-painted toys, chests and ceremonial masks.

Ancient Maya art deals mainly with politics, the ancient calendar, and religion. The incredible amount of religiously themed art occurs in various mediums including stone inscriptions, pottery, jewellery and wall paintings.

Bibliography

http://www.indians.org/welker/maya.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_civilization
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/mesoamerica/maya.html
http://www.crystalinks.com/mayanarch.html
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761576077_1/maya_calendar.html
http://www.lost-civilizations.net/mayan-art.html
http://home.epix.net/~miser17/art.html
http://www.atitlan.net/riegel/lake-atitlan/mayan-art/0.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_art
http://historylink101.com/1/mayan/ancient_mayan.htm