Mexico City

Can you identify what is in this digital collage?? The four original pictures are all located somewhere in the Art-I-Facts sections.

Cathedral at Zocalo 

The cathedral is in Mexico City's main square and center of town where activities have been held since the days of the Aztecs.  It is the largest cathedral in Latin America and took over 500 years to build.  The cathedral is sinking into the bed of Lake Texcoco and is kept from collapsing by an intricate network of scaffolding.  It is near the Plaza Templo Mayor.

You can see an old photograph of the cathedral from 1890 here

Oriental Temple at the Zoologico

Chacmool

Many Chacmools contain a square with a solar disc in the center, placed on the abdomen of the statue.  Many scholars believe the still beating hearts of sacrificial victims were thrown on this square, but there is no evidence to suggest this.  Don Jose Diaz Bolio believes that the chacmools were used as a substitute for sacrificial victims and may have been used as alters for the Mayan fire ceremony, performed annually when the Pleiades constellation crossed the meridian of the sky at midnight (around November 11th) and were believed to be a way of returning life to the sun.  The Aztec celebrated the fire ceremony every 52 years in relation to the planet Venus.  

Perhaps Henry Moore's sculptural pieces were influenced by this Toltec icon. 

Clay Figures

The Toltec were known for their fine orange pottery.  See examples above and below.  

Orange Pottery Female

Orange Pottery Male

Temple Facade and Janet

Temple Figure

Temple Entrance

Temple Facade

Mural from Teotihuacan

A reproduction of a mural from the dwelling compound  of Tepantitla where scenes were painted of the Paradise of Tlaloc.  This one shows the water goddess in the center with plants growing from her head.  Two priests on each side are making offerings to her.