Written by leading authorities and including the latest ground-breaking research, Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya is a unique, lavishly illustrated overview of the courts of this great civilization, and examines them in unprecedented depth, revealing a dazzling array of objects that still have the power to engage and astonish observers centuries after their creation.
Maya artistic expression over a millennium ago reached the highest peaks of opulence and cultural refinement in the New World. At the heart of each of sixty or more fiercely competitive kingdoms lay the royal court - a place of elegance and entertainment, sumptuously furnished and splendidly decorated. Maya rulers - as kings of the forest - sat on flayed jaguar skins and pelt cushions, surrounded by a coterie of dwarves and hunchbacks, singers, drummers and fan-bearers.
The book also investigates the mythical backdrop, the role of women, and the place of warfare in Maya society. Palenque is fully analyzed, and works found here, as well as at other sites including Tonina, Yaxchilan, Bonampak and Copán, are particularly featured. The works of artists and scribes displayed bring alive the form, texture and colour of their vanished world.
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