Codex Borgia (eBook)

A Full-Color Restoration of the Ancient Mexican Manuscript

Gisele Diaz, Alan Rodgers (Autoren)

eBook Download: EPUB

2013
Dover Publications (Verlag)
978-0-486-15521-0 (ISBN)

Infos

First republication of remarkable repainting of great Mexican codex, dated to ca. AD 1400. 76 large full-color plates show gods, kings, warriors, mythical creatures, and abstract designs. Introduction.

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Considered by many scholars the finest extant Mexican codex and one of the most important original sources for the study of pre-Columbian religion, the Codex Borgia is a work of profound beauty, filled with strange and evocative images related to calendrical, cosmological, ritual, and divinatory matters. Generally similar to such Mixtec manuscripts as the Codex Nuttall, the Codex Borgia is thought to have its origin (ca. A.D. 1400) in the southern central highlands of Mexico, perhaps in Puebla or Oaxaca. It is most probably a religious document that once belonged to a temple or sacred shrine.One use of the Codex many have been to divine the future, for it includes ritual 260 day calendars, material on aspects of the planet Venus, and a sort of numerological prognostic of the lives of wedded couples. Another section concerns various regions of the world and the supernatural characters and attributes of those regions. Also described are the characteristics of a number of deities, while still other passages relate to installation ceremonies of rulers in pre-Columbian kingdoms.Until the publication of this Dover edition, the Codex Borgia has been largely inaccessible to the general public. The priceless original is in the Vatican Library and previous photographic facsimiles are very rare or very expensive or both. Moreover, the original Codex has been damaged over the centuries, resulting in the obscuration and loss of many images. In order to recapture the beauty and grandeur of the original, Gisele Diaz and Alan Rodgers have painstakingly restored the Codex by hand— a seven-year project — employing the most scrupulous research and restoration techniques. The result is 76 large full-color plates of vibrant, striking depictions of gods, kings, warriors, mythical creatures, and mysterious abstract designs — a vivid panorama that offers profound insights into pre-Columbian Mexican myth and ritual. Now students, anthropologists, lovers of fine art and rare books — anyone interested in the art and culture of ancient Mexico — can study the Codex Borgia in this inexpensive, accurate, well-made edition. An informative introduction by noted anthropologist Bruce E. Byland places the Codex in its historical context and helps elucidate its meaning and significance.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 23.1.2013
• Reihe/Serie: Dover Fine Art, History of Art
• Sprache: englisch
• Gewicht: 480 g
• Themenwelt: Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Allgemeines / Lexika
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Pädagogik ► Schulpädagogik / Grundschule
• Schlagworte: 9th • ancient maya • ancient mesoamerica • ancient mesoamerican • ancient mexico • ancient peoples • anthropological material • archaeological history • archaeology • aztecs • ball game • books on ancient mayas • books on ancient mesoamericas • books on ancient mexicos • books on anthropological materials • books on archaeological histories • books on central mexicos • books on classic periods • books on european conquests • books on maya civilizations • books on maya cultures • books on maya histories • books on mayan languages • books on maya people • books on maya sites • books on maya studies • books on modern mayas • books on pre-columbian civilizations • books on rain gods • Borgia • calabash tree • calendrical • Central America • central mexico • charnel house • christenson • classic period • Codex • dennis tedlock • european conquest • feathered serpent • formative period • Guatemala • havent seen • Headdresses • human sacrifice • hunahpu • introductory • landa • land bridge • lord death • lords • Maize • maya civilization • Maya Culture • maya history • mayan calendar • mayan civilization • mayan culture • mayan history • mayan language • mayan myths • mayans • maya people • Mayas • maya sites • maya studies • meso-american • mesoamerican civilizations • mesoamerican cultures • mexican history • Mexico • modern maya • Morning Star • Mundi • native speakers • olmecs • opposing theories • Popol Vuh • popul vuh • pre-columbian civilizations • pyramid • Quetzalcoatl • Quiche • rain god • Reproduction • rooted • Sacred • Spanish conquest • spiritus • Teotihuacan • Tiresias • toltecs • Underworld • World literature • xibalba • Yucatan • zapotecs
• ISBN-10: 0-486-15521-8 / 0486155218
• ISBN-13: 978-0-486-15521-0 / 9780486155210