Mask

Scholars think the bulbous, lively eyes starting out from this skull mask represent the cyclical relationship between death and life in Mesoamerican cosmovision. Life is born from death; death follows life.

Mask-wearing was central to Mexica religious life and thus the ritual life of the Aztec Empire. Aztec gods, represented in artifacts and codices, typically wear masks or headdresses. Some scholars have argued that masks are a central metaphor for Mesoamerican cosmovision, which views the life of this world as material matter adorning an ever-becoming life force.

While wearing masks, the human celebrant ceased to be human and instead embodied the god or principle represented by the mask. Someone likely wore this mask during rituals, perhaps as part of a more elaborate ritual outfit.

Throughout Mesoamerica, the wearing of masks was central to the performance of religious rituals and reenactments of myths and history. The face is the center of identity, and by changing one's face, a person can transcend the bounds of self, social expectations, and even earthly limitations. In this transformed state, the human becomes the god, supernatural being or mythic hero portrayed. Masks of skeletal heads, whether human or animal, are relatively common, for death played a central role in Mexica religion. Death was one of the twenty daysigns of the Mexican calendar, indicating its essential place in the natural cycle of the cosmos. Death also was directly connected to the concept of regeneration and resurrection, which was a basic principle ...