{"id":2323,"date":"2018-08-15T07:18:01","date_gmt":"2018-08-15T07:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/?p=2323"},"modified":"2026-02-27T08:28:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T08:28:25","slug":"aztec-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/aztec-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Aztec Art: A Detailed Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Aztec art was an important aspect of the daily life<\/a> for the Aztec people. Today, Aztec art is celebrated for its use of colors and intricate designs, often depicting Aztec gods and other aspects of Aztec mythology<\/a>. Skilled artists crafted elaborate stone sculptures, pottery, and Aztec codices<\/a>, which were rich in cultural and religious significance. This article explores the amazing history of Aztec art, and the impact it had on the culture<\/a> of the Aztec people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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WHO WERE THE AZTEC?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Aztecs, who referred to themselves as the Mexica, extended throughout much of central Mexico and existed from the 14th century until the 16th century when they were conquered by Spanish conquistadors led by\u00a0Hernan Cort\u00e9s<\/a>.\u00a0 However, to understand the\u00a0Aztec Empire, it is first important to understand their connections to the other Mesoamerican people that came before them and the influences that these people had on the Aztec civilization.\u00a0 One of the main connections between the Aztec and the other societies of Mesoamerica can best be seen in art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Map
Map of the Aztec Empire and Aztec Triple Alliance by History Crunch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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AZTEC ART – INFLUENCE OF THE TOLTEC<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Aztec Empire<\/a> is famous for many of its features including the amazing art and artistic objects that the Aztec people created.\u00a0 At its core, Aztec art was heavily influenced by the religious and cultural practices of the Aztec people.\u00a0 With that said, the\u00a0Aztec religion<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0culture\u00a0were based on earlier Mesoamerican civilizations, and thus Aztec art shared many similarities with the rest of Mesoamerica.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, the Aztec considered themselves to be the successors to the earlier\u00a0Toltec<\/a>.\u00a0 In fact, the Aztec admired the Toltec for many different aspects, including: art, architecture, craftsmanship and culture.\u00a0 Some historians have questioned whether or not the Aztec people were the descendants of the earlier Toltec society, but this suggestion has also been made about other earlier Mesoamerican civilizations, including the Teotihuacan.\u00a0 Regardless, the Toltec language was Nahuatl<\/a>, which was the same as the Aztec.\u00a0 As well, the Nahuatl word for Toltec, in the Aztec society<\/a>, came to mean \u2018artisan\u2019 in reference to their view that the Toltec were the height of culture, art and design in Mesoamerica.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Toltec\"
Toltec Warrior Statues at Tula.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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AZTEC ART – DAILY LIFE<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Aztec art is seen in many of the objects and structures that the Aztec people used on a daily basis.\u00a0 For example, Aztec clothing<\/a>, pottery, jewelry, temples, and weapons<\/a> contained artistic styles.\u00a0 More specifically, the Aztec were known to use bright colors and vivid imagery to convey their culture and religion on these objects.\u00a0 Common materials used to create these objects included: feathers (especially from the quetzal bird), shells, gold, silver, glass beads, and other gemstones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Aztec
The Texcoco ruler (Nezahualpilli) wearing xiuhtilmatli (blue cape), maxtlatl (loincloth), and cactli (sandals). From the Codex Ixtlilxochitl.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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AZTEC ART – RELIGION<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As stated above, Aztec religion and\u00a0gods<\/a>\u00a0were central to Aztec art.\u00a0 As such, much of the surviving Aztec art is based on different Aztec gods.\u00a0 For instance, the \u2018Tlaloc Vessel\u2019 is a ceramic pot that was discovered in the ruins of the\u00a0Templo Mayor<\/a>\u00a0(Aztec Temple) in\u00a0Tenochtitlan<\/a>.\u00a0 Historians believe that the pot dates from around 1470.\u00a0 It shows a depiction of the Aztec god\u00a0Tlaloc<\/a>.\u00a0 Tlaloc was an important god in Aztec religion.\u00a0 In Nahuatl,\u00a0the Aztec language, Tlaloc translates to \u2018earth\u2019 and modern historians interpret the name as meaning \u2018he who is made of earth\u2019.\u00a0 The Aztecs considered him to be the god of rain, earthly fertility and water.\u00a0 He was a popular god throughout the Aztec Empire and widely recognized as a \u2018giver of life\u2019.\u00a0 The \u2018Tlaloc Vessel\u2019 is significant in Aztec art because it shows the craftsmanship of the Aztec people, as well as their use of bright colors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Aztec
Tlaloc Vessel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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AZTEC ART – SYMBOLISM<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Symbolism was another important aspect of Aztec art.\u00a0 For instance, the natural world featured prominently in different pieces of Aztec art.\u00a0 Several common examples include: jaguars, frogs or toads, eagles, shells, serpents and more.\u00a0 More specifically, in the ruins of the Templo Mayor, a pair of frog statues was discovered which historians have referred to as the \u2018Frog Altar\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0 The sculptures\u00a0are said to have been created for the god Tlaloc and are meant to represent water, for which Tlaloc was related.\u00a0 As stated above, the serpent was another important symbol in Aztec art.\u00a0 This is best seen in different representations of the god\u00a0Quetzalcoatl<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Aztec
Aztec Frog Altar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Quetzalcoatl, whose name means \u2018feathered serpent\u2019, was another main god of the Aztec and played a significant role in Aztec history. \u00a0For instance, he was considered the god of wind and wisdom or learning.\u00a0 Quetzalcoatl was an important god throughout Mesoamerican history and societies and was not just related to the Aztecs.\u00a0 For example, there is evidence of the celebration of Quetzalcoatl by the Teotihuacan<\/a> people near the 1st century AD.\u00a0 Furthermore, a \u2018feathered serpent\u2019 was an important figure of many different Mesoamerican cultures in the centuries that followed.\u00a0 These other cultures referred to him in other names, but the imagery of a feathered serpent was always constant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Quetzalcoatl\"
Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec god, from the Codex Magliabechiano.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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AZTEC ART – MOSAICS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u200bSome of the most beautiful Aztec art that remains today are the different mosaics.\u00a0 These are often created with many small pieces of stone, shells or glass and generally depict different Aztec gods or important figures.\u00a0 The \u2018Mosaic Skull of\u00a0Tezcatlipoca<\/a>\u2019 from the British Museum is one of the best examples of this.\u00a0 Tezcatlipoca was a significant god in Aztec religion.\u00a0 His name is translated as \u2018smoking mirror\u2019 in the Nahuatl language of the Aztec and he is often associated with several different concepts, including: the night sky, night winds, hurricanes, the north, jaguars, obsidian, and war.\u00a0 In Aztec tradition Tezcatlipoca was considered to be an opposite and rival to Quetzalcoatl.\u00a0 The \u2018Mosaic Skull of Tezcatlipoca\u2019 was made from an actual human skull and had the back portion removed to allow it to be worn as a mask.\u00a0 For example, it had deer-skin straps to allow it to be worn, along with a jaw that was hinged so it could be moved.\u00a0 The surface of the skull was decorated in several different types of materials, including: blue turquoise and black lignite. Iron pyrite and white shells were used for the eyes while the nose was covered in a red oyster shell.\u00a0 The skull was likely worn in ceremonies honoring the god Tezcatlipoca.\u00a0 Overall, the skull showed the Aztecs artistic skill and the importance of gods in\u00a0Aztec daily life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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AZTEC ART – AZTEC CODICES<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Another important factor in Aztec art was the different surviving\u00a0Aztec codices<\/a>. \u00a0These are books containing\u00a0Aztec writing\u00a0that were created before, during and after the arrival of Europeans during the Age of Exploration.\u00a0 The codices are important to our modern understanding of the Aztec because they are some of the best first-hand accounts of Aztec history.\u00a0 The codices were not books in the same sense, as we understand them to be today.\u00a0 Instead, they were more like long, folded sheets that were made out of deer skin.\u00a0 As well, the Aztec had no known written language, and instead displayed their ideas in glyphs or pictures.\u00a0 This means that the Aztec wrote using images that represented the different words or themes of which they wished to express.\u00a0 Most of the surviving Aztec codices are from the timeframe around European colonization of central Mexico, with very few remaining from before the arrival of European explorers.\u00a0 For example, the Florentine Codex is one of the best examples of an Aztec codex.\u00a0 It was created by Spanish Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahag\u00fan from about 1545 until 1590.\u00a0 Sahag\u00fan worked with different Nahua men from the region to research and organize his findings in the Florentine Codex.\u00a0 In all, the work ended up filling twelve books totaling over 2400 pages.\u00a0 As well it included over 2000 pictograms drawn by Mesoamerican artists that depict the history and life of the Aztec people. \u00a0While, Sahag\u00fan titled his work \u2018The Universal History of the Things of New Spain\u2019, it is more commonly known today as the Florentine Codex due to it currently being located in Florence, Italy.\u00a0 These surviving codices display the Aztec artistic representation of different aspects of their life, such as: cultural traditions, religious traditions, gods, ceremonies, historical events and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Aztec
Conquest of the Aztec Empire in the Florentine Codex.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At its core, Aztec art was heavily influenced by the religious and cultural practices of the Aztec people.\u00a0 With that said, the\u00a0Aztec religion\u00a0and\u00a0culture\u00a0were based on earlier Mesoamerican civilizations, and thus Aztec art shared many similarities with the rest of Mesoamerica.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5717,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":20,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,80],"tags":[78,77,15,79],"class_list":["post-2323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aztec-empire","category-mesoamerica","tag-ancient-history","tag-aztec-empire","tag-history","tag-mesoamerica"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2323"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5839,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2323\/revisions\/5839"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crunchlearning.com\/website_ec2cbfb0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}