Codex-Style Vase with Mythological Scene ca. 7th or 8th century Maya This drinking cup, painted in what is known as the codex style, shows a unique scene from the corpus of Maya ceramic paintings. The protagonist is an aging Rain God, known by the name Chahk in the hieroglyphic script, who wields a ceremonial ax in his left hand while placing his right hand on a stone temple or palace that he has presumably split open. The “grape-bunch” motif located to the right of the cleft on the temple’s facade signifies that the building is made of stone, and four half-quatrefoil motifs marked with crossh

Codex-Style Vase with Mythological Scene ca. 7th or 8th century Maya This drinking cup, painted in what is known as the codex style, shows a unique scene from the corpus of Maya ceramic paintings. The protagonist is an aging Rain God, known by the name Chahk in the hieroglyphic script, who wields a ceremonial ax in his left hand while placing his right hand on a stone temple or palace that he has presumably split open. The “grape-bunch” motif located to the right of the cleft on the temple’s facade signifies that the building is made of stone, and four half-quatrefoil motifs marked with crosshatching perhaps represent windows in the walls. Chahk is shown with features that appear in other depictions: a watery vegetation headdress, Spondylus earspools, and fishlike barbels. The tiny wisps of hair on the knob of his head, however, are nothing like the bushy, unruly tangle of knotted hair seen in his other portrayals (see MMA ; ). The torso of the god is also uncharacteristically saggy, accented with skin rolls— a convention in Maya artists’ depictions of geriatric bodies. A rather plain loincloth and trilobed pectoral contrast with the more elaborate dress and jewelry seen in other representations. Most peculiar here is the volute of vegetal smoke that the god vomits out. The spewed matter flows between his legs and upward, so that he appears to be seated in the crook of the watery emanation. Rather than dancing, he crouches. Though Chahk is the largest character in the scene, the action seems to center on the two figures seen in front of the cracking temple. The one on the left, a youthful Maize God, identified by his cob-shaped head with wispy tassel hair and the shining hieroglyphs on his arms, poses as if in mid-dance. To his left sits a forlorn captive with black face paint and arms bound behind his back. The text to the left of the captive may identify him perhaps as a nighttime version of the same Maize God, but the phrasing is dif

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