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The Mexica people housed images of conquered deities in the Coateocalli, a temple located at the heart of Tenochtitlan’s religious center. It was an early example of religious images removed from their original contexts and stored together elsewhere. The temple serves as a metaphor for later private and public collections. The earliest Mexican artifacts in the Weltmuseum Wien date back to the 16th-century Habsburg treasuries and chambers of curiosities, as well as their imperial collection. Some pieces are so impressive and unique that today they are considered part of the Aztec art canon. The Weltmuseum Wien’s collection includes stone and ceramic sculptures of deities, vessels, as well as lapidary work, obsidian and jade pieces, textiles, inlaid turquoise items, gold and wooden artifacts, codices, and the famous featherworks.
- First systematic catalogue of Aztec deities in the WMW collection with newly analysed iconographic sources and ritual contexts
- Exclusive presentation of the WMW’s internationally recognized featherworks collection with detailed explanations of their religious purpose
- Combines canonical pieces with previously unpublished works and hand-drawn explanatory illustrations
Gerard van Bussel worked at the National Museum of Ethnology (now the Wereldmuseum Leiden) in the Netherlands from 1984 to 1994, and has been curator of the North and Central American department at the Weltmuseum Wien in Vienna, Austria, since 1994.