A near life-size Aztec (Mexica) statue of Xipe Totec, the god of springtime, agriculture and renewal, sculpted in volcanic tuff and dated 1450 to 1521. Held by the Museum der Kulturen Basel in Switzerland under accession IVb 647. The god is shown wearing the flayed skin of a sacrificial victim, the standard iconography by which he is recognized, understood in Aztec ritual as symbolizing the shedding of the earth's old surface for new vegetation each spring. No further provenance detail is given on either accepted record.
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Basel, Cities This source names Basel directly: "Held by the Museum der Kulturen Basel in Switzerland under accession IVb 647."
This source names Switzerland directly: "Held by the Museum der Kulturen Basel in Switzerland under accession IVb 647."
Depicts
The statue's sole subject, held by the Museum der Kulturen Basel and shown wearing the god's standard flayed-skin attribute.
Sources
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