Journey to the Country of Gods. Mexico. Monuments of the Past
23 July, 2002 - 13 October, 2002

The exhibition opened in Nicholas Hall and Anteroom of the Winter Palace (No. 191, 192) is dedicated to the art of Mesoamerica, an area covering most of Mexico and Central America.
The show includes over 261 exhibits from 16 museums of Mexico and 9 exhibits from the Hermitage collection. These are ceramic, stone and gold artifacts created by the civilizations of Olmecs, Mayas, Aztecs, Totonacs, Mixtecs, Zapotecs and West Mexican peoples from the 2nd millenium BC to 1521 AD (date of the conquest of Mexico by Hernan Cortes).
The materials are organized according to the thematic principle. Sergei Eisensteie's film Mexican Fantasy is showed in Anteroom.
The theme Society comprises sections Rulers, Warriors, Priests and Shamans and Everyday Life. Visitor's eye is caught by the giant head of a ruler which was carved by Olmecs from hard stone in the period from 1500 to 200 BC. Reliefs glorifying rulers' deeds in the lands of Mayas and Zapotecs date from the epoch before 900 AD. The military caste which appeared around the 2nd century took control of the state. Statues, vases, vessels, urns and drums showed in the exhibit carry images of warriors. Since times immemorial shamans cured people and were in charge of the calendar of agricultural works. Later they grew into the caste of priests. The exhibition shows sculptures of priests and cripples. Hunchbacks and dwarves were believed to be marked by gods and to act as intermediaries between gods and humans. The Everyday Life section comprises things depicting people and their various pursuits.
The theme Mask tells about man's second face which was of ritual importance. The most ancient masks are made from clay with images of fantastic animals or creatures. Olmecs and Mayas carved them from jade, giving them idealized features. All ancient Mexican masks are funereal. Among the many masks showed in the exhibit is one of the three masks from Teotihuacan, found in rooms and passages of administrative buildings and temples along the Road of the Dead.
The Gods section introduces the most important divinities of the pantheon, gods and goddesses of sun, fertility, fire, death, war, rain and maize. They are depicted in sculptures, urns, vases and incense-burners. Worship of gods and observance of rituals and ceremonies was people's principal obligation. The Ritual theme includes the sections Ball Game and Sacrifices. Religious ceremonies of the country's ancient peoples were very complicated. Of utmost importance was the veneration of ancestors. The exhibition shows incense-burners, pyramidal temple models, musical instruments and statuettes of praying people. Ancient Mexicans sacrificed to gods objects made from clay, wood, metal and precious stones. Some of rituals included ball game, blood letting and human sacrifices. Ball game had a religious sense, being part of the ritual relating to the eternal cycle of life and death. Competition result had great political and religious significance. Blood spurting from the beheaded body of the losing team's captain was perceived as a symbolic libation in honor of fertility gods. The show includes basalt and terracotta sculptures with images of players and objects used in the game. The theme of sacrifices is further illustrated by donative objects, knives, vessels and boxes with symbols of the sun, sculls and dead heads.
The Animals and Plants section shows vessels, plates, masks, reliefs, urns, necklaces, incense-burners and statuettes depicting various animals. Ancient Mexicans' idea of the world included three levels. Underneath was the nether world, the kingdom of the dead. The upper world was inhabited by gods, warriors who fell in battle and women who died in accouchement. The middle level was the world of humans, animals and plants. Special importance of the world of animals is showed by the belief that every man had a double, who was often an animal.
The section Mexican Antiquities in the Hermitage Collection shows anthropomorphic and zoomorphic statuettes and masks and the masterpiece of the jeweler's art, the Aztec golden breast decoration in the form of an eagle warrior known as the Aztec Bell.
This exhibition is a virtual encyclopedia of the country's pre-Columbian history which gives everybody a chance to make his or her own discovery of the New World. Slaviya Publishers issued a catalogue of the exhibition with illustrations.

Bell in the Form of an Eagle Warrior
Unknown origin
Larger view

Head of a Statue
Oaxaka Valley (?)
Larger view

Dog with a Corn-cob in its Teeth
Colima
Larger view

Tripod Vase with the God of Death
Zaachila
Larger view

Mask
Malinaltepec
Larger view