Gesture and Rank in Classic Maya Art

Abstract

The Mayan artists of the Classic Period, especially in its late phase (600-800 AD), crystallized a system or apparatus of visual conventions, whose purpose was to enhance and glorify the figure of their k’uhul ajawtaak or divine lords. The study of this corpus of strategies, which is barely in its infancy, is the subject of reflection of this article, which by its dimensions is not an exhaustive study, but rather introductory. These include the hierarchical division of the pictorial field, the manipulation of scales and volumes, the use of certain clothing and political and ritual paraphernalia, the presence of titles of position and rank written in the glosses, the interactions between the characters, the resources of the halo or hierarchical hollow, simultaneous viewing angles, principle of differentiation, vertical staggering of figures, isocefalic attitude between characters of the same status, emotional distancing between the ruler and low-ranking individuals, and the psychological tension that occurs between vernacular narrative resources and hieratic-idealized of Teotihuacan affiliation, all of which is what gives meaning and meaning to the postures and gestures, which tend to stand out on neutral or little recharged backgrounds, where the environment, environment or panorama is conceptual and minimalist.