>>117432618>>117431604>>117431659>>117432089>>117432028cont:
>I'm pretty fucking sure they didn't decorate with gore every chance they gotIn terms of ACTUAL gore, you wouldn't see really any sort of bodies being thrown about or organs left around even in sacrifice ceremonies, with a few exceptions. These were formal religious ceremonies with very specific steps, not frenzieid bloodsports. Sacrifices were well cared for both before they were sacrificed, and in terms of their remains after
In terms of just art motif;, skulls, hearts, etc were definitely a common art motif on paintings, murals, ceramics, archtectural furnishings, etc. However, it's less "as" skulls, hearts, and more the symbolic connotations they have, which often tied into the notion of the inherent transience of life and mortality, and the cyclical relationship of life and death. So it's pretty similar to how skulls were used in european art, as a reminder of one's own mortality. This is also were sacrifice stems from: The gods sacrifice themselves or elements of themselves to make the world, the sun, rain, etc, animals and plants consume the sun and rain, people consume animals and plants, and then the gods consume people via sacrifice
But there were other, equally common motifs. Floral and Avian motifds, for example. It CANNOT be overstated how much the Aztec loved gardens, flowers, and birds/feathers. Cities had gardens in communal spaces, nobles had them in their homes, palaces had many of them, as did pretty much any royal retreat. People carried around flowers to mask smells, and they had a formal taxonomic system for categorizing plants and flowers. Feathers were put on virtually anything of value, birds were kept in cages as pets, and as with large bonatanical gardens, avaries were a common part of palaces
Lemmie know if people want more info, surviving descrptions of gardens, avaries, etc. Probably won't do a full 20+ post breakdown lest I derail the thread but I can do a bit
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