# Front Face of a Stela (Free-standing Stone with Relief)

- Date: 692
- Medium: limestone
- Classification: Sculpture
- Dimensions: Overall: 274.4 x 182.3 cm (108 1/16 x 71 3/4 in.)
- Culture: Mesoamerica, Guatemala, Department of the Petén, El Perú (also known as Waka'), Maya (250-900), Classic period (200-1000)
- Credit line: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1967.29)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1967.29/1967.29_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

In stone sculpture, Maya rulers celebrated the milestones of their reigns with flamboyant portraits like this image of a royal woman, created to mark the passage of a twenty-year period known as the k’atun. She originally stood in a plaza next to a portrait of her spouse (see photo), with whom she ruled El Perú-Waka’, a provincial Maya town. A member of the powerful dynasty of a nearby Maya center, she seems to have held higher authority than her husband, serving as a military governor. Her costume reflects her status: the headdress has a fan of green quetzal feathers and her jewelry probably refers to jade-both among the most prized of ancient materials. Jade beads also may form the net over her garment, belted with the head of a fish-like creature. Completing the costume are the scepter and shield she grasps in her hands. The dwarf at her side may be a court attendant. The hieroglyphic text refers to important dynastic dates.