MEXICA EXHIBITION: OFFERINGS AND GODS AT THE TEMPLO MAYOR
Te Mexica Empire (1325-1521), long mistakenly referred to as the Aztec Empire, has not yet disclosed all its secrets. The groundbreaking exhibition Mexica, des dons et des dieux au Templo Mayor (Mexica, Gifts and Gods at the Templo Mayor) at the musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac from 3 April to 8 September reveals the latest discoveries from the archaeological digs carried out there since 1978, when the remains of the ancient capital city of Tenochtitlan were uncovered under Mexico City.
From April 3rd to Septembre 8th, 2024. 37 quai Branly (7th), 01 56 61 70 00 M° Alma-marceau, Ièna, Ecole Militaire, Bir Hakeim, Pont de l'alma ou Champ de Mars Tour Eiffel www.quaibranly.fr
On 21 February 1978, workers from an electricity company happened upon a stone monolith over 3 metres high, carved with a bas-relief depicting the goddess of the moon, dating from the ancient empire. This belonged to the ruins of the Templo Mayor, and a whole programme of excavations began at the site, lasting over 50 years. They revealed the monumental ruins of the foundations of the great stepped pyramid of Tenochtitlan and the surrounding buildings. The excavations added essential elements in religion, rituals, art and architecture to our already good understanding of the history of the Mexica civilisation.
The exhibition on show takes visitors on a journey through many of these discoveries in an immersive and educational setting. These include some of the 200 offerings found very recently, which the Mexica people provided to the deities they worshipped to pay homage or obtain divine favours. These gifts reveal the complex religious thinking of this civilisation, its symbolic and artistic dimension. Placed in hollowed-out cavities or in stone chests beneath the buildings, these symbolically arranged offerings are made up of plants, minerals, animals, skeletons, cultural objects, etc. Visitors can also see a number of sculptures of gods, such as the colossal stone statue of Mictlantecuhtli, god of death, and a striking 3D projection mapping animated reproduction of the famous disc sculpture recounting the creation of the earth, the Sun Stone, carved in 1479 and discovered at the end of the 18th century. It is currently housed in Mexico.
Over 500 items, most of them never before exhibited in Europe, are on show as part of an exceptional and captivating educational tour of a particularly dynamic and powerful civilisation that came to an end with the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in 1519.