Founded in the first century BCE near a set of natural springs in an
otherwise dry northeastern corner of the Valley of Mexico, the ancient
metropolis of Teotihuacan was on a symbolic level a city of elements.
With a multiethnic population of perhaps one hundred thousand, at its
peak in 400 CE, it was the cultural, political, economic, and religious
center of ancient Mesoamerica. A devastating fire in the city center led
to a rapid decline after the middle of the sixth century, but
Teotihuacan was never completely abandoned or forgotten; the Aztecs
revered the city and its monuments, giving many of them the names we
still use today.
Teotihuacan: City of Water, City of Fire examines new discoveries from
the three main pyramids at the site--the Sun Pyramid, the Moon Pyramid,
and, at the center of the Ciudadela complex, the Feathered Serpent
Pyramid--which have fundamentally changed our understanding of the
city's history. With illustrations of the major objects from Mexico
City's Museo Nacional de Antropología and from the museums and storage
facilities of the Zona de Monumentos Arqueológicos de Teotihuacan, along
with selected works from US and European collections, the catalogue
examines these cultural artifacts to understand the roles that offerings
of objects and programs of monumental sculpture and murals throughout
the city played in the lives of Teotihuacan's citizens.
Published in association with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
Exhibition dates:
de Young, San Francisco, September 30, 2017-February 11, 2018
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), March 25-September 3, 2018
Phoenix Art Museum: October 6, 2018-January 27, 2019
