Seated Deity
Unknown Artist
1350–1519
Medium
gray volcanic stone with red pigment
Dimensions
37.5 × 20.3 × 24.8 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Art of the Americas
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Gruener
Accession Number
1990.136
About this artwork
The crested headdress with tassels suggests that this youthful, seated male is Macuilxochitl (Five Flower), an Aztec supernatural patron of many forms of pleasure, among them music, dance, feasting, games, and sex. His cult was popular among common people, and this effigy probably was created for use in a small neighborhood temple. The stone surface could have been plastered and then brightly painted.