猫雕塑 - 美国大都会艺术博物馆展品查阅

品名（中）	猫雕塑
品名（英）	Feline Sculpture
入馆年号	1978年，1978.412.22
策展部门	迈克尔·洛克菲勒之翼（The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing）
创作者
创作年份	公元 600 - 公元 1000
创作地区	墨西哥, 韦拉克鲁斯（Mexico, Veracruz）
分类	石雕（Stone-Sculpture）
尺寸	高 20 x 宽 24 1/2 x 深 32 1/4 英寸 (50.8 x 62.2 x 81.9 厘米)
介绍（中）	这座大型猫科动物浮雕是由一块不规则的火山石巨石雕刻而成的。它很可能描绘了美洲最大的两种食肉动物美洲豹或美洲狮。在这张照片中，这只猫向后仰着耳朵，露出爪子，似乎在向前跳。在深深的眼窝下面是一张陷入咆哮的嘴巴。当猫露出牙齿并伸出脊状舌头时，鼻子会张开在现在的墨西哥韦拉克鲁斯，雕塑家在大石头上用浅浮雕雕刻了这样的猫科动物形象。类似的例子也出现在Xalapa的AntropoloíA博物馆（编号089），据说是1950年在诺皮洛阿发现的。艺术家用浅浮雕保存了尽可能多的石头。事实上，艺术家将大部分巨石保持在自然状态，也就是说，没有试图将猫雕刻成圆形或使其对称，这突出了石头本身作为一种材料的重要性。人们花费了巨大的精力和精力对猫的眼窝进行了深度挖掘。这些洞可能曾经装着抛光的黑石或其他材料的核心，使雕塑充满活力，这样它就可以用闪亮的眼睛凝视社区中美洲社会将大型猫科动物视为自然界中最杰出的杀手。国王和王后穿着他们的毛皮，用爪子和牙齿制作帝王服，并将猫科动物的单词融入他们的王室名称中。像这样的雕塑可能是重要家族或政治团体的地方标记或纹章象征。
介绍（英）	This large relief sculpture of a feline was carved from an irregular boulder of volcanic stone. It most likely depicts a jaguar or a puma, the two largest predators in the Americas. In this representation the feline lays back its ears and bares its claws as it seemingly jumps forward. Below the deep eye sockets is a mouth caught mid-snarl. The nose flares as the feline exposes its teeth and extends its ridged tongue. Sculptors carved such feline images in bas relief on large stones in what is now Veracruz, Mexico. A similar example is found in the Museo de Antropología de Xalapa (s/n 089), said to have been recovered at Nopiloa in 1950. The artist preserved as much of the stone as possible with shallow relief. The fact that the artist left most of the boulder in its natural state, that is, did not try to carve the feline in the round or make it symmetrical, underscores the importance of the stone itself as a material. Great lengths and efforts were directed into deeply gouging the eye sockets of the feline image. These holes may have once held polished cores of obsidian or another material to animate the sculpture so that it might gaze out upon the community with shiny eyes. Mesoamerican societies revered big cats as the preeminent killers in nature. Kings and queens wore their pelts, made regalia out of their claws and teeth, and incorporated words for felines into their royal names. Sculptures such as this may have been place markers or heraldic emblems of important families or political groups.