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Humanities LibreTexts

3.14: Coatlicue

  • Page ID
    358724

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    Stone sculpture depicting intricate carvings of figures and animals, dating to the 11th century.

    Artist: Unknown
    Medium: Stone sculpture
    Art Historical Time Period: Aztec, c. 1500 CE

    Coatlicue is an Aztec goddess known as the "Serpent Skirt." She is the mother of Huitzilopochtli and is associated with earth, fertility, and death. She is often depicted wearing a skirt of snakes and a necklace of human hearts, hands, and skulls.

    Coatlicue is important to Aztec culture as a powerful symbol of maternal sacrifice, transformation, and regeneration. Her terrifying image expresses both creative and destructive powers of womanhood and nature. She reflects a dual role found in many cultures where women serve as both life-givers and guardians of the boundary between life and death.

    Vocabulary

    • Regeneration Spiritual or physical renewal after death or destruction.

    Student Authors

    • Gabriela Bravo ’25 and Raul Martinez ’23

    References and Image Attribution

    • Townsend, Richard F. The Aztecs. Thames & Hudson, 2009.
    • Pasztory, Esther. Aztec Art. Harry N. Abrams, 1983.

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