Death And The Maiden by Jaroslaw Datta

Olga Nikityuk

Palma

ARTIST CULTURE Classic Veracruz

PERIOD Late Classic period, 600–909

DATE c.600–909

MATERIAL Stone

FROM Veracruz

Provenience unknown, possibly looted

This fan-shaped “palma,” a piece of protective gear worn during the ballgame, shows a pair of bat-like creatures on one side and a pair of intertwined snakes on the other. The sharply curved edges of the bat wings echo the double curve at the end of the “palma,” while the knotted serpents evoke the scrollwork that is characteristic of much Classic Veracruz sculpture. The small notch at the base of the “palma” would have served to help attach it to a yoke. Stone versions like this were probably worn ceremonially, and served more as emblems of rank or political office rather than actual ballgame equipment.

SLAM

Villa am Meer (Villa by the Sea) by Hermann Traugott Rüdisühli (1864-1944)

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Long and lovely.

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