Mesoamerica - The Aztecs: Clay, Gods and Sacrifice
At the heart of the Aztec Empire stood one of the most extraordinary cities in the ancient world – Tenochtitlan, built on an island and filled with temples, warriors, craftsmen and gods.
Stephanie Rozene and Paul Greenhalgh explore the ceramics of the Aztecs, or Mexica, from beautifully made redware used for everyday food to extraordinary effigy vessels and monumental terracotta figures created for ritual and sacrifice. Through objects including the Eagle Warrior and the terrifying Lord of the Underworld, they uncover a world in which clay connected daily life with mythology, warfare, nature and the supernatural.
What can ceramics reveal about the extraordinary world of the Aztecs?
Featured Artworks: Images and artworks in this episode:Codex Bourgia, c.16th century, Public Domain, Creative Commons Map Aztex Empire, Public Domain, Creative Commons Image of Eagle, Mendoza Codex, c.1541, Public Domain Map of Tenochtitlan, ca. 1524, Public Domain Model of Sacred Precincts in Tenochtitlan Capital City of Tenochtitlan Axtec Redware Bowl, c.15th-16th century, The Met Collection, Public Domain Eagle Warrior from the Hosue of Eagles, ca. 1400-152, Photograph by Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. Vessel with Codex style ca.1350-1500, Public Domain Image of Eagle, Mendoza Codex, c.1541, Public Domain Aztec bowl, Public Domain Aztec redware pitcher, 15-16th century, Public Domain Aztec Bowl with Monkeys, 1400-1521, Public Domain Aztec Bowl, Public Domain Ceramic Tilaloc Effigy Vessel c.1440-1470 Vulture Vessel, c.1200-1521, The Met Collection, Public Domain Warrior Codex Menoza, ca. 1541-1542, Public Domain Lifesize Terracotta of Mictlantecuhtli, ca.1400-1521 Painting depicting the Fall of Tenochtitlan, second half of the 17th century, unknown artist. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Conquista-de-M%C3%A9xico-por-Cort%C3%A9s-Tenochtitlan-Painting.png
Professor Paul Greenhalgh is a specialist on the art and design of the Modern period. He has written widely on Art Nouveau and curated several exhibitions including the major survey Art Nouveau 1890-1914, which toured internationally (2000-01). His books include Ephemeral Vistas (1988), Modernism in Design (1990), Art Nouveau 1890–1914 (2000), The Modern Ideal (2005), Fair World (2011), L’Art Nouveau: La Revolution Decorative (2013), Ceramic Art and Civilisation (2021) and Pablo Picasso: The Legacy of Youth (2022). He has held positions as Head of Research at the V&A Museum, London; President and Director at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC; Director of the Sainsbury Centre, Norwich; and Inaugural Director of the Zaha Hadid Foundation, London. He was born and raised in Bolton, and is a proud Lancastrian.
Stephanie Rozene is a ceramic artist, Professor of Art, and the Ceramics Program Coordinator at Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York she has been teaching, writing and making art since 2004. At Hartwick she's been honored with the Wandersee Scholar in Residence award twice, along with the Teacher Scholar Award. Stephanie's research uses historical ornament and porcelain as a visual language to critique contemporary political rhetoric, and she also explores the history of clay as a cooking tool. Her work has been shown extensively both nationally and internationally. She is a member of the International Academy of Ceramics and is the Vice President of the board of trustees for the Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts in Newcastle, Maine, and was educated at NSCAD University in Nova Scotia, Canada and the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University.
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