Feline altar, Mexico, Izapan
1st cen. B. C. - 1st cen. A. D. This large relief sculpture of a feline was carved from an irregular boulder of volcanic stone. It most likely depicts a jaguar or a puma, the two largest predators in the New World. In this representation the feline lays back its ears and bares its claws as it seemingly jumps forward. Below the deep eye sockets is a mouth caught mid-snarl. The nose flares as the feline exposes its teeth and extends its ridged tongue. The overall body shape is represented only by the stone itself and by the articulation of the kegs and tail, which curls up onto the back of the animal. The artist preserved as much of the stone as possible with shallow relief. The fact that the artist left most of the boulder in its natural state, that is, did not try to carve the feline in the round or make it symmetrical, underlines the importance of the stone itself as a material. Great lengths and efforts were directed into deeply gouging the eye sockets of the feline image. These holes may have once held polished chunks of obsidian or another material to animate the sculpture so that it might gaze out upon the community with shiny eyes.
Metropolitan museum, New York, 2016
Feline altar, Mexico, Izapan
1st cen. B. C. - 1st cen. A. D. This large relief sculpture of a feline was carved from an irregular boulder of volcanic stone. It most likely depicts a jaguar or a puma, the two largest predators in the New World. In this representation the feline lays back its ears and bares its claws as it seemingly jumps forward. Below the deep eye sockets is a mouth caught mid-snarl. The nose flares as the feline exposes its teeth and extends its ridged tongue. The overall body shape is represented only by the stone itself and by the articulation of the kegs and tail, which curls up onto the back of the animal. The artist preserved as much of the stone as possible with shallow relief. The fact that the artist left most of the boulder in its natural state, that is, did not try to carve the feline in the round or make it symmetrical, underlines the importance of the stone itself as a material. Great lengths and efforts were directed into deeply gouging the eye sockets of the feline image. These holes may have once held polished chunks of obsidian or another material to animate the sculpture so that it might gaze out upon the community with shiny eyes.
Metropolitan museum, New York, 2016