The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 23, 2024

Figure of a Warrior

Figure of a Warrior

after 1325 (thermoluminescence date of casting core, 1345–1575)

Did You Know?

The calendar glyphs on the figure's back read "2 Rabbit, 3 Water."

Description

The elite status of this warrior, who holds a dartthrower, darts, and a shield, is revealed by the gold from which he is made as well as his jewelry and sandals. Military accomplishment was prized by the Aztecs, whose imperial expansion was fueled by ambition as well as their belief that they were chosen to uphold cosmic order through war. The purpose of the chest cavity is unclear; the figurine may have been worn as a pendant.
  • Update on pre-acquisition history pending.
    1984-
    The Cleveland Museum of the Art, Cleveland, OH
  • García Granados, Rafael. Estudio comparativo de los signos cronográficos e slos códices prehispánicos de Méjico. Actas De La Primera Sesion Celebr. En México En 1939, Del 27 Congreso Internac. De Americanistas. México: Talleres gráf. de la nación, 1942. pp. 419-469
    Dempsey, James H. "The Annual Report for 1984." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 72, no. 4 (1985) p. 265 www.jstor.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Interpretations: Sixty-Five Works from the Cleveland Museum of Art. 1991. p. 45
    Deletaille, Emile, and Lin Deletaille. Trésors du nouveau monde. Bruxelles: Musées royaux d'art et d'histoire, 1992. fig. 134
    Young-Sánchez, Margaret. "Figurine of a Warrior." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 80, no. 4 (1993) pp. 144-147 www.jstor.org
    World of Art. Carson, CA: Educational Insights, 1995. footnote no. 4, Appendix A
    Young- Sanchez, Margaret. " An Aztec Gold Warrior Figurine (from the Cleveland Museum of Art)." Res 29/30 (Spring/Autumn, 1996.) pp. 102-126
    Symes, Robin. Bull Leapers to Picasso. 2000.
    Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo, and Felipe R. Solís Olguín. Aztecs. London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2002. p. 253
    Maurer, Evan M., and Molly Hennen. Symboles sacrés: quatre mille ans d'art des Amériques. Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux, 2002. Cat. no. 88, pp. 114-115
    Solís Olguín, Felipe R. The Aztec Empire. New York, N.Y.: Guggenheim Museum Publications, 2004. p. 231, Cat. No. 156, pl. 122
    "Aztecs at the Guggenheim: A Lost Culture Comes to Life." Special Advertisement section. The New Yorker. (November 15, 2004)
    Baqeudano, Elizabeth. " El Oro Azteca y sus Conexiones con el Poder, la Fertilidad Agricola, la Guerra y la Muerte." Estudios de Cultura Nahuatl. Vol. 36 (2005). fig. a
    Wason, Marianne. " Albrecht Durer: On Viewing an Exhibit of Aztec Gold." (2006) amerbegin
    30,000 Years of Art: The Story of Human Creativity Across Time and Space. London: Phaidon, 2007. p. 682
    World Views: Contact and Change. (Canada: Pearson Education, 2007)
    Beuno Bravo, Isabel. Storia National Geographic. Ed. Margarite Casanovas. (2009)
    Cleveland Museum of Art, David Franklin, and C. Griffith Mann. Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2012. pp. 118-9
    Falchetti, Ana María. Lo humano y lo divino: metalurgia y cosmogonía en la América antigua. 2018. 106
  • The Aztec Empire. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY (organizer) (October 14, 2004-February 15, 2005).
    The Aztecs. Royal Academy of Arts, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (November 16, 2002-April 11, 2003).
    Sacred Symbols: Three Thousand Years of Native American Art [FRAME]. Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France (July 16-September 29, 2002); Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rennes, Rennes, France (May 27-August 18, 2003); Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN (organizer) (October 26, 2003-January 11, 2004).
    Treasures of the New World. Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium (organizer) (September 15-December 25, 1992).
    Year in Review for 1984. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 3-May 5, 1985).
  • {{cite web|title=Figure of a Warrior|url=false|author=|year=after 1325 (thermoluminescence date of casting core, 1345–1575)|access-date=23 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1984.37