82 MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA 
Having now passed in brief review the objective side 
of Mayan remains, let us turn our attention to the sub- 
jective. 
The Serpent in Mayan Art. Mayan art is 
strange and unintelligible at first sight, but after care- 
ful study many wonderful qualities appear in it. In 
the knowledge of foreshortening and composition, the 
Fig. 27. Typical Elaborated Serpents of the Mayas. The 
plumed serpent is from Chichen Itza and the one with a human head 
in its mouth from Yaxchilan. 
Mayas were equal if not superior to the Egyptians 
and Assyrians. ‘They could draw the human body in 
pure profile and in free and graceful attitudes and 
they could compose several figures in a rectangular 
panel so that the result satisfies the eye of a modern 
artist. 
But, unfortunately for our fuller understanding, the 
human form had only a minor interest because the gods 
