SPINDEN— CENTRAL AMERICAN PORTRAITURE 



hieroglyphic inscriptions, as well as those which serve as supplemen- 

 tary ornament on the bodies of the heroic figures. 



Front View and Full-round Sculptures. — It seems best first to exam- 

 ine cases of presentation in front view and in the full round, and then to 

 turn our attention to the more usual profile studies. The writer has else- 

 where been able to show that the earliest stelae at Copan were given over 

 to low-relief front-view presentation, but that this rapidly developed 

 into high relief and the full round. It may be stated as a general truth 

 that the front view of the human face finds its happiest expression in 

 high relief or the full round, and that in contrast the profile view is most 

 fittingly given in low relief. The front-view presentation may be studied 

 to advantage at Copan, Quirigua, and Piedras Negras. 



The earliest Copan examples are archaic and show protruding 

 eyes, block-like faces, and other defects that are remedied in later 

 pieces. The best-preserved of the early monuments is Stela P, dating 

 from about 350 a.d. An excellent example of the work that was done 

 150 years afterward is seen in Stela H, while Stelae 5 and N are inter- 

 mediate products (pi. IX, a-d). It may be noted that the proportions of 

 the body are better in the earlier than in the later work, but that the 

 carving of the face indicates the true course of historic change. Close 

 examination of the faces on Copan stelse shows differences in the form 

 of features and in expression. Some details, like the eye, develop in 

 a way that is capable of demonstration, but the variation in other 

 details may be intended to reproduce the peculiarities of individuals. 

 Beards are shown on a number of the latest figures, including one of 

 the two on Stela C. 



Perhaps the finest sculptured pieces at Copan are the full-round 

 figures used as frieze decorations on temple fronts. A famous example 

 discovered by Maudslay and labeled a "singing girl" is reproduced in 

 plate x, together with an unusually fine head now in the Peabody 

 Museum of Harvard University. It seems likely that both these heads 

 represent the youthful and beautiful Maize God. At this point it may 

 be stated that sex differences appear mostly in dress and that there 

 are no nudes in ancient Maya art. Women are distinguished by a 

 sack-like garment that covers the body and conceals the modeling of 

 the breasts. Stela H at Copan, already referred to, probably repre- 

 sents a woman, since the skirt reaches nearly to the ankles. Stela K 

 at Quirigua is sometimes called "the queen", but the costume is that 

 of a man. Long-skirted persons are represented on several monu- 

 ments at Naranjo and Yaxchilan. Reverting to the two heads that 

 probably picture the Maize God, there is no reason why actual 

 persons noted for their beauty should not have served as models. 



[445] 



