Mayan gods arrive at the Kimbell Art Museum

From May 7 to September 3, 2023, the Kimbell Art Museum presents the exhibition “Lives of the Gods: Divinity in Maya Art”

Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Kimbell Art Museum · Image: Whistle with the Maize God emerging from a flower. Maya, A.D. 600–900

Organized in collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art (where it was on view from November 21, 2022 to April 2, 2023), “Lives of the Gods: Divinity in Maya Art” includes some 120 works created during the Classic Period (250-900 A.D.) in the territories of present-day Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico. According to the Kimbell Art Museum, the works in the exhibition “depict episodes in the life cycle of the gods, from the moment of their birth to resplendent transformations as blossoming flowers or fearsome creatures of the night.” The exhibition is organized thematically, following the life course of the gods and their place in the cosmological framework.

In a press release, the Metropolitan Museum explained that “in Maya art—one of the greatest artistic traditions of the ancient Americas—the gods are depicted in all stages of life: as infants, as adults at the peak of their maturity and influence, and finally, as they age. The gods could perish, and some were born anew, providing a model of regeneration and resilience,” adding that “Maya artists gave form to the gods in remarkably imaginative ways, through works of astonishing visual complexity and aesthetic refinement. Exquisitely carved sculptures were believed to embody divine power and presence; finely carved ornaments of jadeite, shell, and obsidian once adorned kings and queens, symbolically connecting them to supernatural forces; and finely painted ceramics reveal the eventful lives of the gods in rich detail.“