The Olmec civilization was to the New World as
Greece was to Europe. The Olmec were the
founding stone and well of knowledge from
which all succeeding Meso-American cultures
drew their religion, society, and art. We most
commonly associate the Olmec with the massive
stone heads discovered at La Venta and
Veracruz, but these laboriously crafted and
perfectly balanced giants give us only an idea of
the Phediases of the Olmec world. Working with
equal skill, and infinitely more delicacy, in the
shadow of the stone-heads and their architects,
were Olmec Polykleitoses and Michelangelos. In
precious rock, they crafted votives of infinite
grace and charm. Commingling the animal, the
human, and the divine, they brought forth a
unique and dazzling blend of every emotional
and intellectual pivot upon which the Pre-
Columbian mind revolved. The figure seated
before us, part man, part jaguar, part agricultural
God, is a stunning example of this smelting of
the cornerstones of Olmec life. The beast in him
leers at us, ferocious still, even after a mellowing
period of a few thousand years. His body
hunches forward in wild repose, the hands
placed upon his knees lost in limbo between
fingers and paws. And yet his proud straight
cheek bones, his flattened nose, and broad chin
give him an aura not only of general humanity-
but of a very specific human identity. Interlocked
with the Jaguar is a breathing and sentient man.
Atop his feral and his human nature, a whimsical
element of divinity finds its place. His eyes
originally would have been inlayed with six
dazzling stones- Perched atop his somewhat
noble, somewhat boisterous head, is a regal and
Godly crown. From the cleft in his forehead
grows a stalk of maize, leading us to liken this
deity to the Man of Maize, the Olmec god from
whose decomposing body all crops draw
sustenance. Only a true visionary, brought up in
a culture that understands the rudiments of
human life in such a clear and vivid manner,
would be capable of producing this votive statue.
And while we may no longer worship it as an
agricultural ward- the strength and undeniable
energy of the jaguar, the clear and innocent
beauty of the human, and the majestic nobility of
the divine that thrive within this piece mean just
as much to us now as it did to the Olmec then.
How exceedingly rare, what an undeniable
pleasure it is- to witness artistry, mastery, the
reflection of the human universe- occurring on
so many levels. Through his fangs the Man of
Maize gives voice to an artist, stretching across a
bridge of three thousand years, to whisper a
subtle reminder to worship the sub-human, the
human, and the superhuman, all as parts of
man’s most joyous experience- life.
- (SP.536)
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