Buy an essay: Arts of Latin America

In this paper I will consider the 9th book “The merchants and artisans” and 12-book “The Conquest of New Spain”.

1. Feather-working scenes (“amanteca”), in Bernardino de Sahagún and others “Florentine Codex” (1550s –1570s), Book 9
Book 9 of the “Florentine Codex” is devoted to the pictures of life of that
Aztec people who were settled upon the island of Tenochtitlhn, where the center of Mexico City now stands.
This chapter closely depicts the merchant class: their way of life, organization, their rituals, travels and other types of social activities. The Nhhuatl chapters tell about an economic history and trading in the island since the time commerce began in the last quarter of the 14th century, when the merchants sold as imported goods only colored parrot feathers.
The creation of objects with feathers is a pan-Mesoamerican art form. The use of feathers was a means to express aesthetic, religious, and political concepts. This tradition goes deeply into Mesoamerican worldview, Mesoamerica’s culture and can be found in cultural heritages ofother peoples, not only Aztecs. The study of the artworks created with feathers (Feather-working scenes “amanteca”) can help us to built a more accurate historical vision of cultural and social life in Mesoamerica.
Featherworks can show us the scenes of life and work of Aztecs, while Sahagun describes the readers the life in the households of the festherworkers. Like maso of Aztecs crafts, feather working was a hereditary occupation. Featherworkers lived together in special neighborhoods, the best known of which were called Amantclan, so that wrokers began to be called “amanteca”. (Smith 2003)
The feather- working scenes of “Florentine codex” show the art of the feather artists, the amanteca, in a historical perspective: they establish a chronological sequence in the development of the art of the amanteca, and provide this sequence with meaning. (Peterson 1988)
The Book 9 of the “Florentine Codex” is important from the historical point of view, and also it a closer look into the significance of the art and design with feathers. The beautiful objects of art made by the amanteca are transformed by the feathers both symbolically and historically, for they become an integral part of a millenary practice and worldview, which is Mesoamerican. (Peterson 1988)

2. “Burning the idols”. Diego Muñoz Camargo, Description of the City and Province of Tlaxcala, (1581–1584)
This image of the manuscript was chosen not only because “Burning of idols” is beautiful and unique, but also because this image is historically important, as it describes and gives an idea of the important events in the history of the people of Mexico.
The image is a part of “Historia de Tlaxcala” – a manuscript of the XVI century, which tell about the period of the history of the people of Mexico after the conquest by the Spaniards. These texts describe the changes in social, political, military, religious and cultural life and history of the province of Tlaxcala.
“Historia” is a very unusual manuscript because it can be divided into three distinct sections: one is textual written in Spanish and the native Nahuatl language of the people, and two are paintings. Three different sections of the manuscript have names: the text section is called “the Relaciones Geográficas or Descripción-de-la Ciudad y Provincia de Tlaxcala”, and two image sections are known as “Tlaxcala calendar” and “Tlaxcala Codes”. The topics and issues raised in the three sections are connected, despite the fact that they were not produced by the same author. There is a view that the three parts of the “Historia de Tlaxcala” manuscript were produced in different periods of time. The textual section is the easiest part and was written in the period of 1581 – 1584 by Diego Muñoz Camargo.
The text is caleed “Relaciones Geográfika” and is like an expanded version of the card and was written by the Tlaxcaltecan historian Diego Muñoz Camargo. It depicts the life and demographics of the land, its territory and natural life, as well as gives information about languages, social life and political laws of the country. In fact the text was made for the order of Philip II, produced in Spain and then sent to every city and countryside of New Spain. It’s goal was to provide a full picture and database of the Spanish empire in the American region, with all its resources and opportunities.
The textual part of the “Historia de Tlaxcala” has the same meaning as the Spanish glosses under the Descripción drawings, that means that both text and the drawings were a single unit, and have to be studied together. For example the text of Muñoz Camargo should be conceived with images to get a full picture.
“Burning idols” drawing depicts the scene of the burning of idols. This ritual of burning and abandonment of idols – is a long and important process in the history of the religion of the people of Mexico. First of all, this process was connected with the conquest of territory by the Spaniards. The Spaniards tried to tame the religion of Indians, they began the process of eliminating the people of Mexico from paganism: they started a broad campaign against all forms of paganism, ordering to destroy all Indian books, sacred objects and statues.
In this regard, we touch the religious views of Aztec. In a “Historia de Tlaxcala” it is said that “the value of religion for the Aztecs was so large that it can be said without exaggeration: their whole life has been closely linked with religion.” Gods and committed in their honor worships were countless. (Smith 2000)
Though Aztec religious ceremonies were very interesting are. The most important part of Aztec ritual was the sacrifice, and the highest victim was considered a human blood, as it to religious beliefs was the “food of the gods.” In Aztec codes and also in “Historia de Tlaxcala” the “blood” was sometimes replaced with the “flower”, and the Aztecs believed in their sacred duty to deliver this “food” to their gods that had a special magical power. (Smith 2000)
When the Spanish expedition of Cortes entered the main temple of Tenochtitlan, they found there, according to their stories, about 130 000 human skulls, and all of these people were sacrificed in a few years prior to the Spaniards invasion. Religious fanaticism has been one of the main reasons of the Aztec conquest. In battle the Aztecs did not seek to kill the enemy, as in their eyes a prisoner had a much higher price – it could be sacrificed to the gods.
There are some not quite clear evidence about other sacrificial rites of the Aztecs: in honor of the god of fire Ueueteotl victims were thrown into the fire and slowly burned. Also Aztecs paid honors to their gods by singing, dancing while ritual religious dramas. The Aztecs believed that after death the soul will go in the solar realm Tlalokan, but such a fate were awarded only the souls of the fallen in battle and killed by lightning, and, of course, those who volunteered to sacrifice themselves. (Smith 2000)
As we see the religious beliefs of the Aztecs were quite complex, and the process of burning of idols was an important ritual in the pages of history of the American people. This is shown in the image “burning of idols.”
The image is made very clearly and conveys all the aspects and importance of this ritual. The fire, in particular, is drawn with short vigorous strokes to create the illusion of real fire, as well as white smoke emanating from the fire. Fire takes the form of a circle. This dramatic presentation of burning of idols is filled with rich meaning and value, as is associated with religion, ritual traditions. The ritual itself was filled with special meaning and was done as a theatrical performance. This ritual can mean the closure of ideals for the natives of their idols, the rejection of paganism and forever, the adoption of the new religion. Conclusion
Concluding the analysis of images from the life of the people of the Aztec, I would like to assess the disclosed material.
While studying the culture of Aztecs, we could see the depth of their traditions that were present during the historical period of their existence. Lack of real evidence and explanations of various phenomena of the ancient culture itself generates more and more interest to the research toward the object of study.
The reviewed images gave us a glimpse of some of the important parts of life and culture of the people of Mexico. These drawings are part of the art of Latin America, as well as historical sources. Being unique documents, they are invaluable monuments of Mesoamerican culture and history.
References
Boone, Elizabeth Hill. “Stories in Red and Black: Pictorial Histories of the Aztec and Mixtec”. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2000.
Bailey, Gauvin Alexander. “Art of Colonial Latin America”. New York: Phaidon, 2005
Donahue-Wallace Kelly. “The Art and Architecture of Viceregal Latin America in 1521–1821”. University of New Mexico Press, 2006
Peterson, Jeanette Favrot. “The native presence in the 16th century Murals of New Spain”.
Peterson, Jeanette Favrot. “The Florentine Codex Imagery and the Colonial Tlacuilo”. The Work of Bernardino de Sahagún: Pioneer Ethnographer of Sixteenth-Century Aztec Mexico. Institute for Mesoamerican Studies. Suny: Albany, New York, 1988. Pp. 273-293.
Smith, Michael Ernest. “The Aztecs”. Wiley-Blackwell, 2003