Art and Society in a Highland Maya Community: The Altarpiece of Santiago Atitlán

6. The Basal Narrative Panels of the Central Altarpiece

T he series of five narrative panels the Chávez brothers added at the base of the altarpiece—which were not part of the original decorative scheme—seek to codify the major rituals conducted at Santiago Atitlán as they relate to the human lifecycle from birth, on the left panel, to death, on the right panel (Figs. 1.4, 1.5 V–Z, and 3.5). In contrast to Tz’utujil myths, which are recited informally and vary widely in content and circumstance of telling, rituals are highly systematized as to place of performance, and Atitecos assert that they change little over time. The narrative panels are an innovative way of engaging the viewer by presenting contemporary members of Atiteco society as they interact with sacred objects and personages familiar from prominent local ceremonies. This interplay serves to break down the barrier between the viewer and the world of the spirit. The artists strengthened the effect by arranging the narrative panels horizontally at a level where they may be seen close at hand, unlike the saints’ niches and decorative motifs, which the verticality of the monumental altarpiece increasingly distances from the viewer, making the sacred less approachable. The proliferation of images in these lower panels and their smaller scale invite close inspection, whereas the more isolated figures above, though larger, are somewhat difficult to see. For Atitecos, supernatural beings express their presence and influence through visible rijtaal (“signs”). These may be naturally occurring elements left in the world by ancient gods or ancestors, such as mountains, lakes, a rare and beautiful plant, jade, or a bit of quartz crystal. In other cases they may be man-made objects crafted CHAPTER SIX The Basal Narrative Panels of the Central Altarpiece 144 Art and Society in a Highland Maya Community by the ancestral nuwals as receptacles for sacred power—a fragment of pre-Columbian carved stone or terra cotta, a colonial-era saint, or a church altarpiece. Each of these bears a living k’u’x (“heart”) and is a visual manifestation of some aspect of divine nature which is essential to existence. The lower panels of the altarpiece are not mere evocations of ritual acts but bear the k’u’x of the things portrayed, having power in and of themselves. When a worshiper prays before them, or even reads them visually in sequence, the panels are enlivened by the human interaction and bestow their power on the viewer as if the rituals depicted on them had actually taken place materially. It is rare not to find several candles burning in front of each of the five lower panels to “feed the heart” of the altarpiece. This was of considerable benefit to me while drawing the panels, which are otherwise often hidden in shadow. When reflected off the surface of the cedar wood, the flickering candlelight also provides a deep reddish glow that animates the figures and creates an unsettling illusion of movement. A number of Atitecos have noted this effect and told me that at midnight the wooden gods and people carved on the altarpiece come to life and dance the steps of world-renewing rituals. All but the central panel in the basal narrative sequence are arranged as a triad of images that follow a single ideologic theme. The first panel represents birth, in terms of both human and spiritual beginnings (Figs. 1.4, 1.5 V, 6.1a and b). Diego Chávez explained that Father Rother wanted to convey the idea that the world began with the word of God. Diego therefore designed the panel to show divine will as revealed in various aspects of Atiteco experience. On the right-hand side of the panel is the first revealed word of the Christian God, symbolized by Moses standing on a mountain with the tablet of the Ten Commandments. To emphasize the foreign nature of this event, Diego used a wall of quadrangular blocks of stone masonry as a background, a building technique he associated with Europeans. Father Rother suggested the theme of this section and pointed out that the “mountain” represents the Church from which the word of God is taught. Panel 1: The Birth of Humanity and the Sacred Word 145 The Basal Narrative Panels of the Central Altarpiece On the left side of the panel is the first Christian sermon in Santiago Atitlán, set within a traditional Atiteco room consisting of...