Mask, Olmec, Mexico (X-VI b.C.) 

Materials: jadeite / Measures: 17.1 x 16.5 cm 

Metropolitan Museum, New York (360° view)

The mask we post here belongs to one of the first civilisations that lived in the actual Mexico. You might say that it could belong to modernity because of the simplicity of its features.

This mystical object, probably meant for adoration, went through a long way to become a piece of art worthy of being in a museum.

Let's see... By the 16th century, in the Colonial period, it was considered a "curiosity/idol":  Cortés, in 1519, sent King Charles V different pieces from these lands as tokens. The delight and wonder was such that they were recognised not only because of their aesthetic but also as a curiosity: objects made by men of those strange lands. Their condition as worship pieces was not denied: "bad things where the Devil mingles".

By the end of the 18th century and during the 19th century, there's a shift in the interpretation. These objects get a new classification based in their age and origin. This is the result of the development of Archeology: they become "historical & archeological documents".

Finally, during the first half of the 20th Century, pre-Hispanic objects gain a new meaning to European eyes, thanks to the many artists that become interested in primitivism. There's a new dimension to judge them by: the "aesthetic" one. Pre-Hispanic objects are so incorporated to museum collections as part of the "Primitive Art" section.

Suplicante tallado en piedra (ca. 300 b. C.-600 a. C.)

Materials: carved and polished stone / Measures: 27 x 14.5 x 10.5 cm. 

MNBA

Vaso zoomorfo, Cultura Ciénaga (ca. 300 b. C.-600 a. C.) 

Technique: Ceramic / Measures: 23 x 29 x 16.5 cm. 

MNBA

Keep reading... "El periplo del objeto mitológico: itinerarios simbólicos del arte prehispánico entre los siglos XVI y XX", by M.A. Bovisio, published in the Journal de Ciencias Sociales/Year 1 N°2, Universidad de Palermo, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, July 2014.