History of Graphic Design - Mayan and Aztec Art

Mayan and Aztec Art

• The Codex Borgia, now in the Apostolic Library of the Vatican, is one of the few surviving graphic art manuscripts of Aztecs. It is believed that it is from the central Mexican highlands near Puebla. This is an area which was under Aztec rule at the time of the Spanish conquest of Mexico.

• The Codex Borbonicus is a codex written by Aztec priests shortly before or after the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Like all pre-Columbian codices, it was originally entirely pictorial in nature, although some Spanish descriptions were later added.

• The Dresden Codex is an ancient Mayan book of the 11th or 12th century of the Yucatecan Maya. It is a highly important work of art. Many sections are ritualistic (including so-called 'almanacs'), others are of an astrological nature (eclipses, the Venus cycles). It was probably written just before the Spanish conquest.

• The Maya civilization is noted for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. At San Bartolo, located in the Department of Petén in northern Guatemala, murals dating from 100 CE depict the myth of the Maya maize god; the colours are subtle and muted, the style, although very early, is already fully developed. The murals depicts the Maya creation Myth as described in the Popol Vuh.