The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 24, 2024
Seated Figure Wearing a Skin
600–1000
Overall: 43.3 x 29.2 x 28.7 cm (17 1/16 x 11 1/2 x 11 5/16 in.)
Location: 233 Mesoamerican and Intermediate Region
Description
This type of image-showing a human clothed in a sacrificial victim’s skin, visible around the mouth and wrists-is one of the most awesome created by Mesoamerican artists. The figure represents the deity Xipe Totec or a human impersonator. Among the later Aztecs, Xipe was associated with fertility, rain, and renewal. Perhaps the wearer, upon shedding the skin, was conceived as a sprout emerging from a withered husk. Xipe also had military connections.- ?-1961(Everett Rassiga, Inc., New York, NY, 1961, sold to James C. and Florence C. Gruener)1961-1990James C. [1903-1990] and Florence C. [1908-1982] Gruener, Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art1990The Cleveland Museum of Art
- {{cite web|title=Seated Figure Wearing a Skin|url=false|author=|year=600–1000|access-date=24 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1990.246