Lives of the Gods: Divinity in Maya Art

This engaging exploration of the Maya pantheon introduces readers to the complex stories of Mesoamerican divinity through the stunning carvings, ceramics, and metalwork of the Classic period

Focusing on the period between A.D. 250 and 900, Lives of the Gods reveals that ancient Maya artists evoked a pantheon as rich and complex as the more familiar Greco-Roman, Hindu-Buddhist, and Egyptian deities. The authors show how this powerful cosmology informed some of the greatest creative achievements of Maya civilization, represented here from the monumental to the miniature through more than 140 works in jade, stone, and clay. Thematic chapters supported by new scholarship on recent archaeological discoveries detail the different types of gods and their domains, the role of the divine in the lives of the ancient Maya, and the continuation of these traditions from the colonial period through the present day.

Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press

Exhibition Schedule:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
(November 21, 2022-April 2, 2023)

Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX
(May 7-September 3, 2023)

Author: Joanne Pillsbury
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art New York
Published: 11/22/2022
Pages: 244
Weight: 3.3lbs
Size: 11.26h x 9.21w x 1.02d
ISBN: 9781588397317