Abstract

VALENCIA RIVERA, Rogelio. The Representation of Space in Maya Art and its use on the Chi’ik Nahb Acropolis of Calakmul. Estud. cult. maya [online]. 2023, vol.62, pp.45-73.  Epub Jan 30, 2024. ISSN 0185-2574.  https://doi.org/10.19130/iifl.ecm/62/000xs00146w02.

By analysing the different resources employed by the Maya artists in order to add depth to their works -with special emphasis on those dedicated to the representation of the configuration of the space on which the figures are placed-, a hypothetical reconstruction of the form of the place, where the actions depicted in the paintings of the Acropolis of Chi’ik Nahb, in the Maya city of Calakmul, took place, could be achieved. This place was probably an open-air esplanade, where people stood in rows, each group behind the other, where they engaged in the distribution of their products. Although most of the techniques used by the Maya, for the representation of space, can be compared to those employed by other cultures of the past, prior to the Greeks, the use of oblique lines to represent stepped structures is noticeable in the case of Calakmul and in some other late examples, which would imply the beginning of the experimentation of Maya art with the most basic principles of linear perspective.

Keywords : spatial perspective; pictorial space; mural painting; Chi’ik Nahb; Calakmul.