COATLICUE

COATLICUE

"Depictions of Coatlicue are fairly rare in Aztec art. The most famous representation, and one of the most powerful Aztec sculptures, is the colossal figure discovered in 1790 alongside the cathedral of Mexico. Coatlicue wears a dress of woven rattlesnakes. Her pendulous breasts are partially obscured behind a grisly necklace of severed hearts and hands. Writhing coral snakes appear in place of her head and hands, denoting gouts of blood gushing from her severed throat and wrists. The two great snakes emerging from her neck face one another, creating a face of living blood."

Mary Miller & Karl Taube, The Gods and Symbols Of Ancient Mexico and the Maya