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Mayan Art Megathread

Discussion in 'General Chat' started by Warden, Jul 15, 2016.

  1. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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  2. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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    Some frescos (murals) from Tulum that I discovered recently.

    100_5662_2.JPG

    This first one is obviously a reproduction, based on what remains from the current state of the murals, which look more like this one:

    tulum_07.jpg

    I did not see these when I went to Tulum, probably because they were inside the buildings and access is restricted. I plan to use some of this artwork in future terrain projects.
    tulum_mural.jpg

    tulum-1-1.jpg

    tulumural.jpg
     
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  3. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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    Also found this link, that says its from Tulum but I don't recognize it (or entirely believe it, but it was a cute little mayan-art-esque video)

    tulum i think.png
     
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  4. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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    Two Mayan carvings, first from Tikal, the second one from Copan:

    Tikal:

    Tikal Lord.jpg

    Reproduction of a stelae of a lord from the city of Tikal

    Copan

    Yax Kuk Mo 1.jpg

    The lighting makes this one look very colorful. The carving is dedicated to Yax Kuk Mo, a king of Copan, whose name is clearly seen on the picture as it means Green (Yax) Quetzl (Kuk) Macaw (Mo), both the intertwined birds on the carving.
     
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  5. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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    Lords of Xibalba

    Not sure what vase this picture comes from, but the remastered version is quite beautiful and interesting to look at. Vase depicts six of the Nine Lords of the Night in Mayan mythology, who rule over the underworld Xibalba, land of the dead.

    IMG_5313.JPG
    xibalba_b.jpg

    xibalbalords.jpg
     
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  6. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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    Earth Monster face, supposedly from Chalcatzingo.

    Chalcatzingo Earth Monster.jpg
     
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  7. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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    Some artists' interpretations of life in the ancient New World.

    Aztec farmers:
    aztec farmers.jpg

    Martketplace:
    market tlatelolco.jpg market.jpg

    Warfare:
    aztec warband.jpg

    Pic showing scenes from ancient Maya, Aztec, and Inca:

    maya, inca, aztec.jpg


    This one is apparently a Moche lord from Sipan (south America, possibly Peru). I imagine a slann court could look something like this.

    moche, lord of sipan, coast of peru 300-400 AD.jpg
     
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  8. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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    Some more images, mostly of the Mayan culture:

    Master scribes at work, constructing beautiful accordion-style Codexes:
    maya scribes.jpg


    Possibly from Palenque:

    palenque.jpg

    Pok-a-tok- the ballgame:

    pok-a-tok.jpg
    pok-a-tok 2.jpg


    Views of Tikal:

    Tikal ceremonial.jpg
    tikal reconstruction.jpg

    maya warbands.jpg

    A sacrifice in progress over the great cenote at Chichen Itza:
    virgin sacrifice at chichen itza.jpg
     
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  9. Warden
    Slann

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    Thought this one was cool, very detailed Mayan warrior model :artist:

    aca8e68c46d887bbef40496d00d92c18.jpg

    dfbb464316506615544960e20434dc90.jpg
     
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  10. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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    Cool drawing of a Mayan warrior:

    5ca0ac1be224d33a965c42aaca4b160a.jpg

    Interestingly the artist looks like he used King Pakal of Palenque's face for inspiration.
    pakal-bust-3.jpg

    PakalImage1.jpg
     
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  11. Warden
    Slann

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    Two beautiful stelae, one a drawing the other one real:

    Tzendales Stelae

    54f70693d98e82164861a894e338218e.jpg

    19641182239257d4f2c171be65e26910.jpg
     
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  12. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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    These murals are by a Mexican artist named Diego Rivera, who in the more modern day has painted murals of Mexico's ancient cultures. Most are of the ancient Zapotec and Mixtec cultures, but I like the style that he paints. I can delicately see the influence of the ancient pre-columbian cultures in his work:

    05bcc23c011afdc3ad8a387361175e10.jpg

    Looks like Tenochtitlan:

    bee95949064c1fd4596d1755050c3d45.jpg

    538686e228bc7b22ef68aa8dcb82beeb.jpg

    827858c350f09cd450548b7601d50759.jpg

    huastec civilization.jpg

    Zapotec and Mixtec.jpg
     
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  13. Aginor
    Slann

    Aginor Fifth Spawning Staff Member

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    Every time I read something about those cultures I become sad and angry because so much of them is just gone. Unique things lost forever because the damn Europeans destroyed everything and killed everybody, because of greed and religion.
    Cortes and Pizarro belong into one category with ISIS, the Khmer Rouge, Hitler and other greatest enemies of human culture.
    Such a shame.
    Those cultures might have been savage in some things, with archaic and barbaric rites, and of course they were dictatorships.
    But they were unique cultures of mankind that existed for hundreds of years and they become nothing but a few faded memories and artefacts. :(
     
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  14. Warden
    Slann

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    I see your point. It definitely is a tragic and divisive issue throughout history.

    I can't speak as much for the Aztecs or the Incas (other than that they were quite forcibly taken down by the Spanish and their native allies), but the height of the Mayan civilization in many ways had crumbled long before the Spanish came into the picture. Most of the pictures I have posted are from the heyday of the Mayan classical era (700-900 AD) or times immediately before or after. By the time the Spanish arrived, the Mayans were still around, and were still fighting amongst themselves in numerous petty kingdoms, but did not have the glorious "temple cities" we normally think about when viewing these cultures.

    Map is the Mayan world ~1461 AD, showing the Mayan clans fighting constant wars against each other.

    mayan clans.png

    As much as this should have made them easier to conquer by the Spanish, the conquest of the Yucatan wound up being a very long process that never 100% finished, even up until the formation of Mexico.

    But on the flip side, the Spanish, in particular one Bishop Diego de Landa, was both directly responsible for the destruction and preservation of Mayan culture.

    In his notes he rightly admits to burning the wood-bark books containing the mass of wealth of Mayan astrological studies and ceremonial practices, which were burned as works of the devil. Considering how abhorent the Europeans viewed human sacrifices, and viewed snakes, which factored very strongly in Mayan art, as animals directly controlled by evil powers, it makes a perverted sense why he and others came to this conclusion. At the same time, his research and notes on the Mayans themselves are to this day one of the few sources of actual Mayan history, especially how their language and complicated writing system worked.

    Some of his notes:

    De_Landa_alphabet.jpg

    landa-alphabet.gif

    Its a sad history, though at the time Diego de Landa showed up to burn the books and destroy the temples, most had been destroyed by time, the jungle, or angry Mayan armies centuries before.

    The world is a crazy place, and I keep learning more as I continue to read about this fascinating ancient culture.
     
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  15. Warden
    Slann

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    Modern-day maps and stuff pulled from pinterest.

    Yucatan:
    ad7f27c94d74f0dde1ac458d7bac631f.jpg

    Cozumel:
    aca37f07dccd0d2d7621ec0894faea3a.jpg

    Between these two maps, all the Mayan sites I have visited are on these maps: Tulum, Xunantunich, Uxmal, and San Gervasio on Cozumel. I hope to continue to visit more!

    Just some travel guides...
    0245f532d6820188b1adbc3010db6662.jpg

    9a8ec104651cf1ac0fac36a3056a6a5d.jpg

    f5dfdd9da006f24121eab4399ee102bf.jpg
     
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  16. Warden
    Slann

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    A couple fancy Mayan-esque terrain concepts. Most I think are from that cartoon El Dorado movie; original concept sketches for it.

    6ee4d2e5f7d48ad3518e43c63095799d.jpg

    20b486d9fa1727376b54f61fc28ae648.jpg

    152c17ef535b1d996a6387cfaf54ff38.jpg

    38833d0795f5e077ee69d6506df2049b.jpg

    48192ae7c67b3a969bf820d074bc359e.jpg

    a1f8d7dd069761aa8a5bb82dd0e6b49c.jpg

    bd51b5c38b1b009b72f260fd34ecbe6e.jpg
     
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  17. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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    A couple more that didn't fit in the first post. More beautiful concept art that would make great terrain pieces. I like the canals on this one, reminds me of the temple city concept I created, just more red! The color really works well here though:

    Picture22.jpg

    Looks like an Engine of the Gods on top a temple-pyramid
    7235ca4c7a79c74e41de22edb0e0b56c.jpg

    I really like this one, I want to make a terrain piece like this once I secure some more insulation foam to act as the base. Hopefully to make it nice and modular:

    c30dad2799451482a93a1ec5b8994576.jpg
    dd13fd733ddfa5c0605fd810cce8aa15.jpg

    782eb4852330287ebdd463a5bd84d1a7.jpg

    e642d9647eff07ec312748acaca3514a.jpg

    Kurast.png
     
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  18. NIGHTBRINGER
    Slann

    NIGHTBRINGER Second Spawning

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    Nice find!
     
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  19. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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    Found some more, but these are actually real, allegedly from the Temple of the Serpent God (Quezacoatl/Kulkulkan) from Teotihuacan.

    8e231bf2a2edd1039536a0495ec6584b.jpg

    Also an old lithograph

    1dcd0131f5b9ec5661c95545efd9f99e.jpg

    And some fan art:
    c7bbcf7994653e268d76f17385f44b54.jpg
     
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  20. n810
    Slann

    n810 First Spawning

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    Yep they are real, I have actually been there. :D
     
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