Chak-mol [chacmool]

Hirsch, Stefan (American painter, 1899-1964)

Maya; statues; columns (architectural elements)

Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, Mexico

Hirsch and Rogo visited the “Temple of the Serpents” at Chichen Itza, a major Mayan site in the Yucatan Peninsula. In Mayan culture, the chacmool was a ceremonial statue featuring a reclining warrior. These statues were centrally featured in Mayan temples and were used as the site of sacrificial offerings. In Hirsch’s drawing, the chacmool presides over the enormous ruins of Chichen Itza which had begun to be excavated nearly contemporaneously with Hirsch’s drawings.

Modernist; Mexican Muralist (movement)

Stefan Hirsch and Elsa Rogo Collection, Bard College Archives

1930

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charcoal on paper; (16.5x10.6 inches)

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