What did the Aztecs use to make their masks?
Sometimes masks were covered in mosaics made of various materials. The mask itself could be made of green or black stone, wood, obsidian (a hard dark volcanic glass/stone), or even placed on a real human skull. Common mosaic materials were turquoise, obsidian, gold pyrite, coral, and shell.
How was the stone known as the Aztec calendar painted?
Roberto Sieck Flandes in 1939 published a monumental study entitled How Was the Stone Known as the Aztec Calendar Painted? which gave evidence that the stone was indeed pigmented with bright blue, red, green, and yellow colors, just as many other Aztec sculptures have been found to have been as well.
What did the obsidian mirror mean to the Aztecs?
The obsidian mirror symbolizes the god’s supposed control of the hidden forces of creation and destruction. A human skull is the base of this mask. Ceramic masks were more rare, but they were made. The mask represented by the drawing above is ceramic. That mask is from Teotihuacán, and is believed to be a death mask.
What did the ancient Greeks use to make masks?
Of greatest value was turquoise, which was often cut by mask makers into small pieces (Greek: tesserae) which were then glued onto a wood backing, a technique known as turquoise mosaic (pic 2). Turquoise, like jadeite and greenstone, was thought to attract moisture; it symbolized breath and thus life itself.
What kind of material was the Aztec mask made of?
Sometimes masks were covered in mosaics made of various materials. The mask itself could be made of green or black stone, wood, obsidian (a hard dark volcanic glass/stone), or even placed on a real human skull.
What kind of Stone did the Aztecs use?
Essay Aztec stone sculpture is the culmination of a long Mesoamerican tradition in the carving of stone—from ordinary volcanic rock to highly prized semi-precious stones such as jade—into objects and monuments of all sorts. The tradition began with the Olmec peoples of the Gulf Coast in the second millennium B.C., if not earlier.
What was the purpose of the Aztec death mask?
A death mask usually had closed eyes and an open mouth. They were intended for nobles to wear after death, or displayed in memory of the deceased. Sometimes a warrior would actually literally remove the face of his victim from the battlefield as a mask. After the battle, the mask would be offered at the temple. Below is another mask made of stone.
Of greatest value was turquoise, which was often cut by mask makers into small pieces (Greek: tesserae) which were then glued onto a wood backing, a technique known as turquoise mosaic (pic 2). Turquoise, like jadeite and greenstone, was thought to attract moisture; it symbolized breath and thus life itself.
