A near life-size Aztec (Mexica) statue of Xipe Totec, the god of springtime, agriculture and renewal, sculpted in volcanic tuff and dated 1450 to 1521. Held by the Museum der Kulturen Basel in Switzerland under accession IVb 647. The god is shown wearing the flayed skin of a sacrificial victim, the standard iconography by which he is recognized, understood in Aztec ritual as symbolizing the shedding of the earth's old surface for new vegetation each spring. No further provenance detail is given on either accepted record.
Facts
Physical Form
MediumStatue, Aztec (Mexica) period, 1450-1521 1 Medium (class) Connections
Associated With
Basel, Cities This source names Basel directly: "Held by the Museum der Kulturen Basel in Switzerland under accession IVb 647."
Source Xipe Totec Statue, File Record (Wikimedia Commons, Museum der Kulturen Basel)
This source names Switzerland directly: "Held by the Museum der Kulturen Basel in Switzerland under accession IVb 647."
Source Xipe Totec Statue, File Record (Wikimedia Commons, Museum der Kulturen Basel)
Depicts
The statue's sole subject, held by the Museum der Kulturen Basel and shown wearing the god's standard flayed-skin attribute.
Source Xipe Totec Statue, File Record (Wikimedia Commons, Museum der Kulturen Basel)
Additional Source Xipe Totec (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Xipe Totec Statue, File Record (Wikimedia Commons, Museum der Kulturen Basel)
Wikimedia Commonscatalogue record, medium/object-type descriptionQuote, catalogue record, medium/object-type description
A near life-size Aztec (Mexica) statue of Xipe Totec, the god of springtime, agriculture and renewal, sculpted in volcanic tuff and dated 1450 to 1521.
Xipe Totec (Wikipedia)
WikipediaDepicts: Xipe TotecQuote, Depicts: Xipe Totec
Xipe Totec, shown wearing the flayed skin of a sacrificial victim.
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