Figure of a Warrior
after 1325 (thermoluminescence date of casting core, 1345–1575)
- Medium
- gold-silver-copper alloy (cast)
- Classification
- Metalwork
- Dimensions
- Overall: 11.2 x 6.1 cm (4 7/16 x 2 3/8 in.)
- Culture
- Central Mexico, Tetzcoco?, Aztec, Post-Classic Period
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Art of the Americas
- Credit line
- Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
The elite status of this warrior, who holds a dartthrower, darts, and a shield, is revealed by the gold from which he is made as well as his jewelry and sandals. Military accomplishment was prized by the Aztecs, whose imperial expansion was fueled by ambition as well as their belief that they were chosen to uphold cosmic order through war. The purpose of the chest cavity is unclear; the figurine may have been worn as a pendant.
