Chahk
9th century
Medium
Limestone
Dimensions
84 7/8 × 24 × 20 in., 969 lb. (215.6 × 61 × 50.8 cm, 439.5 kg)
Classification
Stone-Sculpture
Culture
Maya
Department
Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1966
Accession Number
66.181
Tags
About this artwork
This imposing limestone sculpture represents Chahk, the Maya rain god, carved during the Late or Terminal Classic period when Maya civilization reached its artistic apex. The deity is depicted in his warrior aspect, grimacing fearsome with a double-bladed axe raised threateningly, embodying the dual nature of rain as both life-giver and destroyer. Though the left hand is now missing, it likely held a battle shield, completing the martial iconography common to Chahk representations. The sculpture...