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Mural Fragment with Elite Male and Maguey Cactus Leaves
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This richly dressed elite male belonged to a row of identical figures who processed along the walls of a patio in one of Teotihuacán’s wealthy apartment compounds. He offers a chant or prayer, materialized in a mouth scroll, along with a flower-filled libation that cascades from one hand. In the other hand, he carries an incense bag. The thorny spines of the maguey cactus, in front and behind, may allude to the offering of precious blood and a ritual beverage made from the cactus’s sap (pulque, a less refined form of tequila). The spines are thrust into objects that may represent bundles or plots of land.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineMural Fragment with Elite Male and Maguey Cactus Leaves, 500–550. Central Mexico, Tlacuilapaxco apartment compound(?), Teotihuacán style, Classic Period. Fresco on wall fragment; overall: 83.2 x 116.2 cm (32 3/4 x 45 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1963.252
