Mezcala Stone Face Panels, 300 BCE - 100 CE
Stone
4
PF.2599
The ancient people of Mezcala, a region in the central portion of the Mexican state of Guerrero, developed a unique and distinctive art style. Although the Mezcala culture probably sprang...
The ancient people of Mezcala, a region in the central portion of the Mexican state of Guerrero, developed a unique and distinctive art style. Although the Mezcala culture probably sprang from the same roots as the Ancient Olmec, their relative isolation in the Mountain valleys resulted in a stone-centered artistic culture, which developed and flourished independent of neighboring influences. As evidenced in this striking stone pendant, carved n the form of a male head, the highly stylized and abstract form highlights and accentuates only the essence of the object, a characteristic reminiscent of Ancient Cycladic art of 4000 years ago as well as early twentieth-century cubist and abstract art. To behold this extraordinary stone carving is to experience a remarkable work of art whose timeless spirit reaches far into the deep levels of our own modern sensibilities, touching a chord that is at once both contemporary and primitive.