Aztec drawing

Aztec Drawing: Aztec art belongs to one of the most ancient civilizations of the world. The Aztecs were a war-loving Native American civilization with their capital in Tenochtitlan, in central Mexico, around 1325. War, agriculture, and their polytheistic religion were the main focal points of their life and art. Like most civilizations, the Aztec art was a picture of their surroundings and their daily life. The animals they saw around them formed one of the creative themes for Aztec drawing, painting and other art forms.

Pictograms were also a part of their artistic culture. These Aztec drawings chronicled life events. The colors they used were natural, and made from vegetables, insects, shells, minerals and oil. Drawing on pottery was another common form of art. Although the pottery used for general purposes was simple and utilitarian, the ones used by the elite or earmarked for ritual use were ornate and elaborately decorated, with intricate designs carved or drawn and painted on them. The drawing on ritual pottery was generally highly symbolic, though that used for regular purposes represented more realistic themes.

Aztec Warrior Art: Generally, most young Aztec men joined the military at age 17. The most prestigious of the warrior orders were the eagle order and the jaguar order. Only soldiers who showed exceptional combat skills could join these elite military groups. The members of these elite groups wore special attire decorated with Aztec warrior art to differentiate them. The costumes were made from either eagle feathers for the eagle corps or jaguar pelts for the jaguar warriors. The jaguars wore animal headed helmets with their jaguar skins, and the eagles sported feathered helmets with gaping beaks. The warriors also wore special masks, whose designs usually depicted either gods or important people in society such as past or present heroes etc.

All Aztec soldiers had uniforms decorated with paintings, with war related patterns and motifs in feathers or leather. Most soldiers were also adorned with tattoo art. The basic designs of the Aztec warrior art were often the inspiration for the tattoos representing warrior accomplishments. The warriors generally received a new tattoo during festival days or at special rituals and ceremonies.

Aztec Calendars: There were two kinds of Aztec calendars, one based on the sun and the other, a sacred calendar used to predict the future. In each of these Aztec calendars, each day was signified by its own sign. The solar calendar had 363 days. There were eighteen months of twenty days each, and five extra days that were considered unlucky days. The sacred calendar of omens consisted of 260 days with twenty months of thirteen days each. Each of the days was good, bad or neutral in significance.

A third calendar existed that was related to the planet Venus. According to this calendar, five years in terms of the rotation of Venus translated to eight solar years. The time on the Venus calendar was kept with the sacred calendar for omens as a reference. A period of 104 years, or two Aztec solar centuries, would pass before the sign of the solar year corresponded with that of the year on Venus. This period was known as an old age.

There is also the Aztec sun stone calendar, which was found in the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan, and has a diameter of 13.2 feet. The face of the sun, also known as the lord of the earth, adorns the center. This calendar shows that in Aztec terms the universe had already passed through four creations and was, at that time, in its fifth cycle.