learning about ancient Mexican art at the de Young Museum

What I know about Mexico's history is quite limited. I know that the Spaniards went there and established the Viceroyalty of New Spain, with Acapulco being its main port facing the Pacific Ocean. This was one end of the Spanish Empire's Galleon Trade... the other end was in Manila.

When I noticed this sign outside the de Young Museum, I asked Anna and Vernon if this was an acceptable place to while the afternoon away if, indeed, the rain poured as forecasted. Turns out that the museum features a vast collection of fine art. The first of the exhibits we went off to see was the collection of pre-Hispanic artwork from Teotihuacan.

Based on the sketches of numerous pyramids that had complex structures, it appeared to me that the civilisation living in Teotihuacan must have had a very complex social system. Since we didn't take the guided tour, we just walked around to look at the artefacts. Anna and Vernon had a field day taking photos too.

Archeologists found beads that appear to jewelry and a collection of shells.

Perhaps, these are artefacts of how developed this ancient civilisation was. Figurines were also found... and here I was, thinking that only people today are into collecting small knick knacks.  

There were a lot of paintings and sculptures that must have adorned the sites in the city. Some of the paintings were on long slabs of stone or on pieces of pottery. Looking at these pieces, I noticed that the artists were fond of making human-like statues but were more symbolic when it came to the paintings... there were colourful animals with elaborate designs.

Among the pieces in the collection, which were all very impressive, I was struck the most by the face mask that was displayed alone in a glass case. It reminded me of the movie adaptation of Dan Brown's Inferno because of how I came across it. I was taken aback... but it does not look like a death mask attributed to Dante Alighieri by the movie. 

It was interesting to see that these Mexican treasures survived the Spanish colonisation. But this is just the tip of the iceberg; if this exhibit has piqued the curiosity of the public to read up on ancient Mexican history, the museum has done its part in developing a renewed interest in culture and history.