This ensemble of anthropomorphic masks brings together different approaches to the schematic representation of human facial features, or the conjugation with those of animals, enigmatically bordering the limits of idealization with the formless.
During the Classic period, in the Mesoamerican West the so-called Mezcala style developed, characterized by the intense abstraction of the figurative elements. Generally being worked on hard stones and in flat volumes, it attracted the attention of the modernist thought of Miguel Covarrubias, an artist, art historian and anthropologist who in the 1940s highlighted the extreme simplicity of these pieces.
On the other hand, linked to human sacrifice and frequently required in funeral ceremonies, the work of axes and palms spread throughout much of southern Mexico during the Classic period. Associated with the ritual game of the ball, they show a face carved in basalt with empty eye sockets and a tongue that comes out of a sort of snout. There are also representations of "chubby cheeks", faces with prominent cheeks that correspond to a symbolic expression deeply rooted in the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
The masks that represent the faces of the elderly, frequent in the central Altiplano, are associated with Huehueteotl, the old god of fire; they usually present half of the face as skull, alluding to the life-death duality.
This ensemble of anthropomorphic masks brings together different approaches to the schematic representation of human facial features, or the conjugation with those of animals, enigmatically bordering the limits of idealization with the formless.
