This mask is a beautiful piece of art that evokes many feelings and tells quite a bit about the Aztec culture. Physically, the mask is made up of some sort of turquoise stone arranged in a mosaic pattern. The mask could possibly be made of jade, but I am not certain just by looking at the image. One extremely fascinating feature of this mask is that the eyes and teeth seem to be made of some light ceramic, polished material. In looking through the pictures of the mask, I noticed that some of them had actual human parts, such as teeth and skull parts, attached to the foundation of the mask. With this in mind, I assumed that the artist of this mask was also going for that same authentic effect, as by first glance, the teeth and eye whites look as though they are from the real parts of a human being. I think this represents the violent nature of the Aztec civilization. A civilization filled with wars and violence, it would seem as though these human extractions are from human sacrifices (possibly of war).
In a more interpretive sense, I feel as though this mask evokes very powerful emotions and feelings. To me, there is a certain sense of sadness in the eyes of the person that this mask represents. The eyes droop every so slightly and seem to peer at you when you look at them with a sense of fear or exhaustion (for whatever reason). At the same time however, the mask also radiates with the shine of the turquoise and ceramic qualities, which seems to evoke a sense of wealth and radiance and celebration. This mask could possibly be representing an Aztec deity, but I am not completely certain. The features of the mask are very realistic and seem to be a representation of a human figure, but that could also be varied into the supernatural spectrum. Overall, I think that this mask is a beautiful piece of Aztec art that evokes many feelings that can vary based on how you look at the piece as well as based on your own personal beliefs of what the artist was trying to convey with the mask.
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