Despite its reduced dimensions and closed composition, this work fully displays the aesthetics of sculpture, the art of three-dimensional forms that tangibly occupy a place in space, with which they interact to a greater or lesser extent, and whose materiality and elaboration techniques are diverse. This makes it necessary to look at the piece from all its angles, as each one confers information about what is represented. In this case, the profile view presents a pronounce and sharp snout and accentuated orbits; at the back, the long curved tail reveals that the specimen is a monkey. It seems to me of the species Ateles Geoffroyi, commonly called spider monkey; although, the image is far from being mimetic as it follows the aesthetic canons of the Mezcalense society.
This ancient culture inhabited both banks of the middle Mezcala-Balsas river basin, covering the northern Sierra Madre del Sur in Guerrero and areas of Morelos, the State of Mexico and Michoacán. In sculpture, they opted for rock carvings of fine and compact consistency whose natural color scheme and durability were highly appreciated. Their lapidary art is characterized by the emphatic synthesis of the visual models depicted, such as humans, animals, and architectural constructions. The blocks of stone such as serpentine gave rise to figures that when they show the body contract the extremities, thus resulting in hieratic forms that are not penetrated by space.
This is how our monkey moves away from its usual dynamic posture with arms, legs, and tail unfolded. Instead, it appears to sit squatting with legs together; the arms are attached to the torso and the tail to the hunched hack and head, exceeding the height of the head; another definite anatomical detail is the buttocks, while on the face the eyes, one nostril, and a closed mouth are indicated. The concentrated expression of the primate is irable.
In the Mezcala tradition, and in the rest of the cultures of ancient Mexico, the artistic representation of fauna and vegetation did not have the purpose of generating a catalog of species that lived together or that were harvested, domesticated, or cultivated. Their selection is part of the mythical and religious thinking of each society. In the stone sculpture of Mezcala, flora is absent (perhaps there are ears of corn) and there is a minimal fauna repertoire of relatively scarce production, in which monkeys stand out. It is likely that they once inhabited the mountain forests of the region and the jungles of the coast of Guerrero. Other sculpted animals included birds, squirrels, snakes, fish, and amphibians. The brief selection of animals underlines their symbolic significance, in a supernatural sense.
Hypothetically, the image in question could have been used as a votive, ceremonial or amulet object with magical properties; since it lacks perforations, it has not been identified as a pendant jewelry. However, due to its static position, its association with air currents can be assumed.
It is widely known that the Mesoamericans linked the fine-grained and compact rocks in shades of green with the vital breath, the humidity, the precious petrified waters, the cold, and the subterranean marine level of the universe. Like the aquatic, the wind belongs to that realm, for its ascent from the depths precedes and brings with it the waters that will then rush down from the celestial level.
I conjecture that the dynamic agility of the monkeys to climb to the top of the trees may have emulated the wind; regarding their prehensile tail that frequently coils, Gabriel Espinosa has pointed out the formal similarity with whirlpools. The image in hard and fine stones of the monkeys, among them the green ones, as in this suggestive sculpture of the Mezcala tradition, would manifest its underworld essence. Perhaps the ive posture emphasizes this character since stillness and silence are other attributes of this primordial stratum of the cosmos.
Veronica Hernandez Díaz
Despite its reduced dimensions and closed composition, this work fully displays the aesthetics of sculpture, the art of three-dimensional forms that tangibly occupy a place in space, with which they interact to a greater or lesser extent, and whose materiality and elaboration techniques are diverse. This makes it necessary to look at the piece from all its angles, as each one confers information about what is represented. In this case, the profile view presents a pronounce and sharp snout and accentuated orbits; at the back, the long curved tail reveals that the specimen is a monkey. It seems to me of the species Ateles Geoffroyi, commonly called spider monkey; although, the image is far from being mimetic as it follows the aesthetic canons of the Mezcalense society.
