The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of July 4, 2022

Figure of a Warrior

after 1325 (thermoluminescence date of casting core, 1345–1575)

Central Mexico, Tetzcoco?, Aztec, Post-Classic Period

Gold-silver-copper alloy (cast)

Overall: 11.2 x 6.1 cm (4 7/16 x 2 3/8 in.)

Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1984.37

Location

233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region

Fun Fact

The calendar glyphs on the figure's back read "2 Rabbit, 3 Water."

Description

The elite status of this warrior, who holds a dartthrower, darts, and a shield, is revealed by the gold from which he is made as well as his jewelry and sandals. Military accomplishment was prized by the Aztecs, whose imperial expansion was fueled by ambition as well as their belief that they were chosen to uphold cosmic order through war. The purpose of the chest cavity is unclear; the figurine may have been worn as a pendant.

Provenance
Update on pre-acquisition history pending.
1984-
The Cleveland Museum of the Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
García Granados, Rafael. Estudio comparativo de los signos cronográficos e slos códices prehispánicos de Méjico. Actas De La Primera Sesion Celebr. En México En 1939, Del 27 Congreso Internac. De Americanistas. México: Talleres gráf. de la nación, 1942. pp. 419-469
Dempsey, James H. "The Annual Report for 1984." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 72, no. 4 (1985) p. 265 www.jstor.org
Cleveland Museum of Art. Interpretations: Sixty-Five Works from the Cleveland Museum of Art. 1991. p. 45
Deletaille, Emile, and Lin Deletaille. Trésors du nouveau monde. Bruxelles: Musées royaux d'art et d'histoire, 1992. fig. 134
Young-Sánchez, Margaret. "Figurine of a Warrior." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 80, no. 4 (1993) pp. 144-147 www.jstor.org
World of Art. Carson, CA: Educational Insights, 1995. footnote no. 4, Appendix A
Young- Sanchez, Margaret. " An Aztec Gold Warrior Figurine (from the Cleveland Museum of Art)." Res 29/30 (Spring/Autumn, 1996.) pp. 102-126
Symes, Robin. Bull Leapers to Picasso. 2000.
Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo, and Felipe R. Solís Olguín. Aztecs. London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2002. p. 253
Maurer, Evan M., and Molly Hennen. Symboles sacrés: quatre mille ans d'art des Amériques. Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux, 2002. Cat. no. 88, pp. 114-115
"Aztecs at the Guggenheim: A Lost Culture Comes to Life." Special Advertisement section. The New Yorker. (November 15, 2004)
Solís Olguín, Felipe R. The Aztec Empire. New York, N.Y.: Guggenheim Museum Publications, 2004. p. 231, Cat. No. 156, pl. 122
Baqeudano, Elizabeth. " El Oro Azteca y sus Conexiones con el Poder, la Fertilidad Agricola, la Guerra y la Muerte." Estudios de Cultura Nahuatl. Vol. 36 (2005). fig. a
Wason, Marianne. " Albrecht Durer: On Viewing an Exhibit of Aztec Gold." (2006) www.nnc.rtp.nc.us
30,000 Years of Art: The Story of Human Creativity Across Time and Space. London: Phaidon, 2007. p. 682
World Views: Contact and Change. (Canada: Pearson Education, 2007)
Beuno Bravo, Isabel. Storia National Geographic. Ed. Margarite Casanovas. (2009)
Cleveland Museum of Art, David Franklin, and C. Griffith Mann. Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2012. pp. 118-9
Falchetti, Ana María. Lo humano y lo divino: metalurgia y cosmogonía en la América antigua. 2018. 106
Exhibition history

Tresors du Nouveau Monde, Musess Royaux d' Art et d' Histoire, Brussels, Belgium (1992).

Year in Review for 1984. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 3-May 5, 1985).

Treasures of the New World. Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium (organizer) (September 15-December 25, 1992).

Sacred Symbols: Three Thousand Years of Native American Art [FRAME]. Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France (July 16-September 29, 2002); Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rennes, Rennes, France (May 27-August 18, 2003); Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN (organizer) (October 26, 2003-January 11, 2004).

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/1984.37