Vessel with Supernatural Profile (detail), Mexico, Southeastern Lowlands, Los Alacranes, Maya, 650–900, Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
Drawing on collaborative research by LACMA’s Conservation Center and the Art of the Ancient Americas Program, Revealing Creation: The Science and Art of Ancient Maya Ceramics integrates new insight gained from technical analysis of ancient Maya ceramic vessels with knowledge from Maya culture. This exhibition considers ancient Maya ceramic production as both art and science and highlights how artisans worked to emulate acts of primordial creation through their labor of shaping, painting, and firing clay.
The new imaging produced by LACMA’s research reveals vessel composition, pigment chemistry, and modern modifications. Select images are juxtaposed with the objects in the gallery, inviting visitors to view inside these vessels as a way to come closer to the hands—and worlds—of these remarkable artists.
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