Detail of a Maya Vessel with a Mythological Scene in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 2022

Title: Vessel with mythological scene

Date: 7th–8th century

Geography: Belize or Guatemala

Culture: Maya

Medium: Polychromed ceramic

Dimensions: H. 10 13/16 × Diam. 5 5/16 in. (27.5 × 13.5 cm)

Classification: Ceramics-Vessels

Credit Line: Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas

Maya artists relished humorous mythical episodes that at the same time conveyed profound meanings related to the origin of the gods, the world, people, and social institutions. On either side of this vessel, Itzamnaaj is awkwardly poised astride a peccary (a wild pig) and a deer. As in a modern comic strip, a fine, undulating line links his lips to his words, asking a man for directions in pursuit of a runaway—the aim of the old god’s amusing chase.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/820294