Overview
The freestanding relief sculptures, or stelae, carved by the ancient Maya between A.D. 278 and 514 are the subject of this book. Inhabiting the dense, lush jungles of present-day Yucatán, Guatemala, and Honduras, the Mayas carved richly dressed figures and glyphs and placed these sculptures in grand civic plazas open to all social ranks. Most scholars who have studied Classic Maya stelae are archaeologists, epigraphers, and historians who have tried to tease facts about the Maya past from these public sculptures.
Here Flora Clancy, an art historian, explores the artistry revealed in the stelae, their aesthetic values, carving techniques, imagery, and text. Re-creating the social and cultural context of the Maya artist, Clancy explores the composition and images, knowledge and skills of the sculptor, and the relationship between the artist and patron. Her examination of the stelae and their pedestals reconstructs how the sculpture fit into the Maya artistic world and suggests how and why Maya art speaks to our own.