User:Carlytj/sandbox

The Aztecs of Central Mexico were inspired by sculptures from other areas in Mesoamerica such as nearby Teotihuacan, which they knew in its ruined state, and Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico. '''To pay tribute to the previous empires and expand their own, the emperor Moctezuma I made a pilgrimage to Teotihuacan every 80 days. The Nahuatl name for the city literally means "place of the gods."''' They believed the makers of such great works of the past were Toltec. '''In fact, the Aztecs used the word "toltecayotl" to describe artworks, which also suggests that for an object to be considered beautiful, it had to have a genealogy. Much of the imagery in Aztec sculpture was previously used by the Toltecs, such as jaguars and serpents. The Aztecs utilized aspects of Toltec art in their own sculpture to establish themselves as the inheritors and climax of great empires'''. This included the reuse of ancestral objects as well as the imitation of their artistic forms. One sculptural type is the Chacmool, which is typically represented as a reclining male figure holding a receptacle on top of its midsection. An Aztec Chacmool excavated in Mexico City in 1943 depicts the rain god Tlaloc through its facial representation and elaborate garb. It follows the typical form, but is much more complex in its decorative elements than Chacmools found at Tula.

The Aztecs utilized aspects of Toltec art in their own sculpture to establish themselves as inheritors and climax of great empires.