Head of Xipe-Tótec, god of fertility
Dateca. 600-800
Maker
Mexican
, Veracruz
Label TextHumans were sacrificed to the god of the springtime and vegetation, Xipe-Tótec, by flaying the victim so that the priests could wear the skin, an action that symbolized the renewal of the earth with vegetation (the renewal of the earth’s skin). This head is likely not a mask but part of an incensario.
Object number58.24
Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Art of the Ancient Americas, July 10, 1999 - May 11, 2003.
Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Cosmic Beings in Mesoamerican and Andean Art, Nov. 10, 2018 - ongoing.Credit LineEugene Fuller Memorial Collection
Dimensions8 1/2 x 6 5/8 x 6 in. (21.59 x 16.83 x 15.24 cm)
MediumCeramic
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