"This important new book documents the splendid artistic legacy of the Aztecs, an extraordinary people who, in the space of only 200 years from 1325 to 1521, created one of the most impressive civilizations in the world. Published to accompany one of the greatest exhibitions of Aztec culture ever seen, this comprehensive volume with over 500 superb colorplates presents works of turquoise, gold, and jade, polychrome ceramics, illustrated codices and manuscripts, and monumental stone and wood sculptures. Nine authoritative essays written by a team of renowned scholars from Mexico, Britain, and the United States explore the Aztecs' view of the cosmos and their place within it, their religious beliefs, rulers, philosophy and literature, techniques of warfare, and day-to-day life. This book will stand as the definitive book on the Aztecs for years to come.
The Aztecs' search for the past / Leonardo López Luján -- Cosmovision, religion and the calendar of the Aztecs / Alfredo López Austin -- Aztec society : economy tribute and warfare / Frances Berdan -- The Templo Mayor, the great temple of the Aztecs / Eduardo Matos Moctezuma -- Art at the time of the Aztecs -- Felipe Solis Olguin -- Aztec codices, literature and philosophy / Miguel León-Portilla -- The conquest / Hugh Thomas -- Exhibitions and collectors of pre-Hispanic Mexican artefacts in Britain / Adrian Locke -- Antecedents / Esther Pasztory -- The human form / Isabel Carlisle -- The natural world / Alfredo López Austin -- Gods of life / Adrian Locke -- Gods of death / Adrian Locke -- Religion / Felipe Solis Olguin -- Gold and symbols of status / Warwick Bray -- The Tempo Mayor at Tenochtitlan / Eduardo Matos Moctezuma -- Treasures / Jeffrey Quilter -- Contact : Indo-Christian art / Eleanor Wake -- Codices / Joanne Harwood.