# Mural Fragment with Elite Male and Maguey Cactus Leaves

- Date: 500–550
- Medium: fresco on wall fragment
- Classification: Painting
- Dimensions: Overall: 83.2 x 116.2 cm (32 3/4 x 45 3/4 in.)
- Culture: Central Mexico, Tlacuilapaxco apartment compound(?), Teotihuacán style, Classic Period
- Credit line: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1963.252)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1963.252/1963.252_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Teens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

This richly dressed elite male belonged to a row of identical figures who processed along the walls of a patio in one of Teotihuacán’s wealthy apartment compounds. He offers a chant or prayer, materialized in a mouth scroll, along with a flower-filled libation that cascades from one hand. In the other hand, he carries an incense bag. The thorny spines of the maguey cactus, in front and behind, may allude to the offering of precious blood and a ritual beverage made from the cactus’s sap (pulque, a less refined form of tequila). The spines are thrust into objects that may represent bundles or plots of land.