The remains of a once vibrant culture are now submerged under a lake. Fortunately, excavations in the 1940's on the site were able to uncover sufficient artifacts to give us an intriguing picture of people who lived there centuries ago. Chupicuaro was the elaborate burial ground of a village above the Lerma River in the state of Guanajuato, eighty miles northwest of the Valley of Mexico. The abundant offerings of pottery, jade, and figurines discovered there attest to a flourishing artistic culture. One of the most endearing types of the clay objects is the small female figures, or 'pretty ladies'. They typically show a naked female with short arms, extended stomach and a fancy coiffure or headdress.

This charming woman with her elaborate hairstyle belongs to a very ancient tradition. Since humanity first began to create sculptures, the female nude has been an essential subject. The reasons for this are as much religious as aesthetic. Fertility, prosperity, and the continuity of life itself were naturally associated with the female. This voluptuous woman was no doubt intended to evoke such ideas when she was buried in an ancient tomb. Her unblushing nakedness offers the promise of life to come, a promise which has been fulfilled by time.