[Aztlan] Reply to Sam's Posting on "reverse"

[Justin Kerr]

Bravo, Sam; this is indeed an instance of where the artists are directed to
write a prayer that they assumed the still living Jesus could read. But then
I guess the inscription should have written in Aramaic or Hebrew.

 

But, in the case of the Ancient Maya, I think it may be wrong to apply Old
World practices. Yes, it is true that prayers are placed in the cracks in
the Wailing Wall and certain Saints are asked to give help with algebra
tests, (at least they did in the Bronx) but to which Gods would have been
Maya inscriptions addressed to? There are a number of images of offerings
being made, but by and large the offerings are being made by supernaturals. 

 

There are a number of vases that are drawn seemingly from the wrong
direction, i.e. right to left rather than left to right. It was speculated
that this was the result of left handiness or dyslexia, but no explanation
has really held up and I think the bottom line is, still, we don't know why
the Maya did a lot of things. 

Justin

  

-----Original Message-----

From: aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org [mailto:aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org]
On Behalf Of Sam Edgerton

Sent: Monday, September 03, 2007 1:15 PM

To: @williams.edu

Subject: [AZTLAN]more on reverse scripts

 

Listeros:  Here's an interesting addenda to our "reverse glyphs" 

thread.  On the porteria wall of the Augustinian convento in Metztitlan,
Hidalgo, there's a mural painted, ca. 1570, now unfortunately much abraded
but originally depicting a giant Christ figure crucified above a baptismal
font into which his blood and water drip (URL 1 below). Surrounding the font
against a cityscape backdrop are a number of small figures including Indians
and friars (URL 2). The painting, by the way, was certainly done by an
Indian trained in the current European Renaissance chiaroscuro style. At the
lower far right a group of friars are shown before whom a speech scroll
unfolds. bearing a string of Latin letters upside down. They spell in
reverse order the words "MISERENE NOS TRIDOMINE" (URL 3) which translated 

means "Have pity on us Oh Trinitarian Lord."   This inscription is 

obviously a prayer offered to Jesus on the Cross and was therefore intended
to be "read" by him from his higher position in the picture. I doubt that
there is any direct connection between this curious incidence and the
"reverse glyphs" we've been observing on ancient Maya monuments, but it does
indicate a parallel thought process regarding how sacred inscriptions should
function in such holy contexts, in painted pictures at least if not carved
in sculpture or on buildings, shared by Christianized Indians as well as
medieval Europeans in that most spiritually minded age.

Sam Edgerton

 

http://lanfiles.williams.edu/~sedgerto/METZTITLAN1.jpg

http://lanfiles.williams.edu/~sedgerto/METZTITLAN2.jpg

http://lanfiles.williams.edu/~sedgerto/METZTITLAN3.jpg

 

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