The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of October 4, 2023

Seated Male Carrying Maize

1325–1521

Central Mexico, Aztec style, 13th-16th century

Stone, pigment

Overall: 31.1 x 24.1 x 30.5 cm (12 1/4 x 9 1/2 x 12 in.)

The Norweb Collection 1949.555

Location

233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region

Fun Fact

Macuilxochitl is one of five gods of excess pleasure, and the punishment that follows.

Description

This figure probably represents an Aztec deity-either Macuilxochitl or Xochipilli-whose domain was beauty, the arts, and such pleasures as gameplaying, dancing, and sex. Both names include the Aztec word for "flower," and in one hand the figure holds a cone of flowers, perhaps the blossoming crown of a cactus. For the Aztecs, flowers signified beauty, refinement, and fertility in general and sexuality in particular. The burden of maize cobs on his back also may allude to his creative energies.

Provenance
?-1949
Raymond Henry Norweb [1894-1983] and Emery May Holden Norweb [1895-1984], Cleveland OH, gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art
1949-
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Citations
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 361 archive.org
William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, and Ralph T. Coe. The Imagination of Primitive Man: A Survey of the Arts of the Non-Literate Peoples of the World. Kansas City, Mo: The Museum, 1962. cat. no. 247, p. 152
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 292 archive.org
National Gallery of Canada, and Expo (International Exhibitions Bureau). Terre Des Hommes: Exposition Internationale Des Beaux-Arts, 28 Avril-27 Octobre 1967 = Man and His World, International Fine Arts Exhibition, Expo 67, Montreal, Canada, 28 April-27 October 1967. [Montréal]: [Expo 67], 1967. cat. no. 77, pp. 162
Grieder, Terence. Austin: University of Texas, vol. 67 (Fall 1968).
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 292 archive.org
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 395 archive.org
Pasztory, Esther. Aztec Art. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1983. pl. 204, p. 229
Alcina Franch, José, Miguel León Portilla, and Eduardo Matos Moctezuma. Azteca Mexica. Barcelona: Lunwerg Editores, 1992. color plate 32, p. 157
Sabau García, María Luisa. México en el mundo de las colecciones de arte. México: D.R. Primera, 1994. Vol 1: pt. 2., pp. 179-243
Fields, Virginia M., and Victor Zamudio-Taylor. The Road to Aztlan: Art from a Mythic Homeland. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2001. cat. no. 161, fig. 71, p. 103; p. 413
Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo, and Felipe R. Solís Olguín. Aztecs. London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2002. cat.no. 107, p.185
Avehanosa, Teresa, Arqueología mexicana. (March 2003).
Solís Olguín, Felipe R. The Aztec Empire. New York, N.Y.: Guggenheim Museum Publications, 2004. Cat. No. 254, p. 255
Katzew, Ilona, William B. Taylor, and Luisa Elena Alcalá. Contested Visions in the Spanish Colonial World. 2011.
Exhibition history

The Imagination of Primitive Man, Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art (January 18- February 25, 1962).

Man and His World, International Fine Arts Exhibition, Montreal, Canada (April 28- October 27, 1967).

Azteca-Mexica, Madrid, Spain (1992).

Exhibition of the Month: Herbs in Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 8-August 1, 1953).

The Imagination of Primitive Man. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO (organizer) (January 18-February 25, 1962).

Man and His World. Expo 67, Montreal, Canada (organizer) (April 27-October 28, 1967).

The Road to Aztlan: Art from a Mythic Homeland. Los Angeles County Museum of Art (organizer) (May 13-August 26, 2001); Austin Museum of Art (Texas Fine Arts Association) (October 19-December 30, 2001); The Albuquerque Museum (February 10-April 28, 2002).

The Aztecs. Royal Academy of Arts, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (November 16, 2002-April 11, 2003).

The Aztec Empire. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (October 14, 2004-February 15, 2005).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1949.555