Precolumbian art in Sea shells, Maya Culture. Kimbell Art Museum
A Maya artist incised a portrait of an ancestor wearing an elaborate headdress onto the face of this conch-shell trumpet. A serpent head, symbolic of sacred breath, emerges from the ancestor’s mouth. The sound from the trumpet would have been considered the thunderous music of the ancestor. (Text taken from the temporary exhibition in MET)
Size: 6000px × 4000px
Photo credit: © Diana Sanchez / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: archaeology, art, culture, decorated, engraved, guatemala, handmade, ink, kimbell, maya, mayan, museum, music, precolumbian, prehispanic, red, sea, shell, snail, thunderous, trumpet, worth
