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Description

This seated figure represents the great "Dzahui", patron saint of the Mixtec people and a god of prime importance, associated with rain and fertility. Dzahui shares characteristics with Tláloc, his equivalent among the Aztecs, a neighboring people with whom the Mixtecs had close ties. Both are generally recognized by their round, rimmed, spectacle-like eyes, moustache-like mouths and long, protruding fangs. In post-Classical times, the Mixtecs worshipped Dzahui intensely, calling themselves "_uu Savi", which roughly translates as "rain people". This veneration is explained by the importance for the peoples of Mesoamerica of influencing natural phenomena, and in particular rain, which is essential for the growth of corn and the survival of populations. The place of this deity in the Mixtec pantheon therefore indicates that this ceramic piece was of great value, and must have fulfilled a ceremonial and ritual function. This is all the more true as there are very few known terracotta equivalents of this size from the Mixtec culture. On the other hand, Mixtecs produced a number of stone pendants bearing the effigy of the rain god.

Physical Artwork

Title

Dzahui-Tlaloc, God of Rain

Collection

Galerie Mermoz

Artist

Mixtec-Aztec (Mexico)

Date

900–1400 AD

Medium

Brown hollow terracotta with traces of polychromy

Region

Mexico

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