Source: Linda Schele and Mary Ellen Miller. The Blood of Kings; Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art. Fort Worth: Kimbell Art Museum, 1986, p. 230, plate 79.
Comments: This is a polychrome terra cotta figurine of a Jaina warrior or lord. The name "Jaina" comes from a place in the ancient Mayan region of the Yucatán coast where this and other figurines like it were discovered. "Jaina" means "house over the sea" in the Yucatecan Maya language. It is a realistic representation of the symbolic and stylized costumes worn by Mesoamerican warriors. He is wearing face paint, a sleeveless xicolli that suggests a Tláloc face with a year sign. He holds a rectangular shield (which has been removed from the figurine), and he is covered in feathers. The foot shows residue from having been burned, perhaps in a funerary ritual.
Latin American humanities motifs: religio; realism; war; la guerra florida (sacred war of the flowers)