The Altarpiece of Santiago Atitlan: The ‘Flowering Earth Mountain’

The monumental altarpiece at Santiago Atitlan is carved in wood that was specially selected and thoughtfully carved by two brothers who are Tz’utujil Maya. To look at the worldview of the Tz’utujil Maya is to peer through transparent layers of concepts much as one looks through layers of color in a watercolor painting. It is the belief of Diego Chavez Petzey that underneath a Roman Catholic overlay traditional Maya thought remains as vital a part of Tz’utujil thinking as it was centuries ago (Chistenson 2001:6). To express this Diego merges images reflecting traditional Tz’utujil Maya with those of the Roman Catholic Church in his monumental sculpture.

As with the evolution of culture in general the Tz’utujil Maya’s world-view did not develop in a vacuum. The ideologies that both Diego Chavez and his younger brother Nicolas, who assisted him, strove to depict in their art are reflective of the physical environment the Tz’utujil Maya of Santiago Atitlan have interacted with for generations. It also contains elements gleaned from other regional cultures as well as the Spanish conquistadors. Through it all, however, ancient Maya ideologies are the core of what is depicted. The forms may be Roman Catholic but the heart of message conveyed is Maya.

In order to understand this significant piece of Tz’utujil art, I will first discuss the geography and history of the region and how that contributed to the Tz’utujil Maya’s continuity of belief with their ancient forefathers. The second section will contain a description and short history of the altarpiece of the altarpiece, and a brief discussion of the how Diego executed his commission given by Father Francisco Rother, followed by Diego Chavez Petzey’s sentiments regarding his work on the altarpiece. Then I will discuss how this central altarpiece expresses Maya cosmology.

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Figure 1 (Tarn 1997:31)

Region

“…it is not the consciousness of men that determines their social existence, but on the contrary, their social existence determines their consciousness” (Marx 1970:21).

Santiago Atitlan is a settlement of approximately 10,000 people called Atitecos. They live on the shore of the second-largest lake in Guatemala, Lake Atitlan (Tarn 1997:1-2, Orellana 1984:113). When John Lloyd Stephens saw the clear blue water in the ninety-two square mile lake he gave the site high acclaim rating the visage as “the most magnificent spectacle we ever saw (Carlsen 1997:30). Santiago Atitlan is at 5,125’ above sea level and lies at the base of three volcanoes at the edge of Lake Atitlan which fills a “volcanic collapse basin” (Carlsen 1997:29). The volcanoes in this area are young geologically and active (Orellana 1984:5). However, of the three surrounding Lake Atitlan, local Maya oral tradition provides a record for only the volcano known as Atitlan as erupting several times since 1469.

This site which rests between the highland mountains to the north and the lake and coastal piedmont to the south provided physical characteristics which allowed the ancient Maya to ward off attackers. At the time of their surrender to the Spanish conquistadors in April of 1524 the Tz’utujil Maya declared that until that time ‘their land had never been broken into or entered by force of arms” (Carlsen 1997:83, Christenson 2001:38, Orellana 1984:113). Indeed, the isolated pockets formed by this geology created a region that had physical barriers hard to penetrate and easy to defend. This isolation also created was fertile ground for the “consciousness of men” to be highly individualistic (Marx 1970:21). Even today the region has a unique religious melding of “undigested bits of Roman Catholicism and queer survivals of paganism” (Tarn 1997:2).

This is not to say other Maya regions do not blend the two ideologies, but the outcome of the melding differs.

For example, there are significant continuities in the ancient Maya’s concept of time and use of calendrics observable in Maya society today (Tedlock 1982:53. And, the oral traditions of the Tz’utujil Maya who reside in Santiago Atitlan region contain many of the concepts observed in the Popol Vuh, a Quiche Maya text recorded by the nobility of that group shortly after the conquest (Carlsen 1997:49-50). However, the manner in which these ideas are integrated into the Tz’utujil ideology is unique.

The Atitecos believe that Lake Atitlan is the most significant body of water being the “true master, the first of all things; the sea comes second” (Christenson 2001:74-75). For them, the reference in the Popol Vuh of a large expanse of water, ‘the first waters of creation,’ is to Lake Atitlan and the rising of three mountains from the sea a reference to the volcanic mountains surrounding their lake. The ‘center of the world’ is at Atitlan and it is on Lake Atitlan that the giant turtle carapace (which is often depicted in imagery throughout the Maya area) floated and cracked allowing the Maize God to emerge from the underworld. So for the Atitecos, it is here that the ‘World Tree’ which Eliade refers to as the ‘axis mundi’ of all things exists (1987:36-37).

The Atiteco’s myth regarding this tree is that this deity was laden with potential life and the branches held all of these potentialities as fruit on its branches (Carlsen 1997:52). Even elements such as lightening and time are included in this bounty. Laden with such abundance the tree gave way and the ‘fruit’ fell smashing and scattering its seeds. Now, the tree exists as a stump at the center of the world and is the original ‘Father/Mother,’ the alpha and omega of life. The focus of Atiteco religious belief is based on the ancient traditional view that centers on this tree and it “in one way or anther [is] oriented back to the…original tree.” It is based on evidence such as this that Richard Wilson concludes that “it is misguided to overlook the way in which indigenous identities are chained to images of tradition” (1993:135).

Isolation and lack of the type of resources desired by the conquistadors provide the physical and social climate that aided the highland Maya in being particularly “successful in preserving their cultural identity despite the imposition of Roman Catholicism during the colonial period” with the pre-Columbian past recorded in the “cultural lives of the people of Santiago Atitlan in ways other than conventional written sources (Christenson 2001: 18). At the time of the conquest, Guatemala contained few resources to lure the Spanish and so after the initial conquest the region received little attention (Warren 1978:8-9). So, even with the imposed Roman Catholic religion, the highland Maya preserved much of their cultural identity (Christenson 2001:18). Cultural geographer Felix McBryde observed that Lake Atitlan has the “the highest degree of…geographic diversity anywhere in Guatemala, even in the world” with physical barriers that create isolated pockets of habitation (Carlsen 1997:29). He states that “many of the villages may be separated from their neighbors by two miles or less, and yet being isolated…they may have distinct economies, dress, and even vocabularies.”

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Figure 2 (Tarn 1997:117)
Although isolated, these people were highly literate. The early written history of

the highland Maya of Guatemala was preserved in hieroglyphic script in bark paper or deerskin covered books called codices in times prior to the 1500s (Christenson 2001:17). These sophisticated texts contained stories of the origin of the Maya people and their religious beliefs. Fray Bartolome de las Casas recorded his impression of the texts he viewed stating that “these great books are of such astuteness and subtle technique that we could say our writing does not offer much of an advantage” (Christenson 2001:17). However, unlike the few codices remaining from other regions, no examples of these highland texts are known to have survived the conquest and subsequent attempts of suppression of the Maya native culture and religion belief. The codices were considered “dangerous hindrances to conversion” and were sought out and burned. Destruction of temples and painted and carved images also was part of the program. (Christenson 2001:18).

After and initial ‘cleansing’ of religious practices, the presence of the Spanish was minimal. This first contact made by Roman Catholic priests with the Tz’utujil Maya in Guatemala was by itinerant priests with the primary goal of baptism and destroying items related to “idolatry” or “paganism,” including the codices (Orellana 1984:195-196). Most Maya continued to practice their indigenous religion after the priests left their villages. In 1542 this pattern changed when two Dominicans started to give regular religious instruction to the Tz’utujil Maya. With the ‘congregation’ of the Tz’utujil religious proselytizing was intensified (Carlsen 1997:91). Twenty-three years after initial contact with the Spanish the Tz’utujil were forcefully ‘congregated’ to provide a more accessible population for labor and religious conversion (Carlsen 1997:84-90). However, the main priority was for financial gain through the exploitation of environmental resources and man power that would “maximize enrichment.” The rugged terrain of Lake Atitlan and decline of the Maya population did not meet these criteria so interest quickly waned and Spanish attention withdrew from Atitlan.

Throughout the post-Columbian period the Spaniards displayed a preference for dealing with their own countrymen and allowed the Maya to self-administer religious affairs (Carlsen 1997:93). Adriaan van Oss notes that:

“by approaching the conversion of Indian communities through their traditional leaders, missionaries insured that the persons who played an active role in the establishment of the new cult…would in many cases be exactly the same individuals who before the conversion had occupied comparable positions in the spiritual life of the community, with obvious implications for the kind of Christian observance which took root.”

By 1638 the region had been neglected for such a long period of time that the church was in need of serious repair and was eventually abandoned until 1964 (Carlsen 1997:92-92).

Traditional beliefs of the Maya appear to have been forced underground by Spanish contact and not lost. Traditional beliefs were kept alive by secretly transcribing ancient texts and secreting them away (Christenson 2001:18). All of this left a religious tradition that retained the core of traditional Maya beliefs and today reflects a “cultural resilience with transformative capacity, most aspects could be traced to the pre-Columbian past” (Carlsen 1997:5, McBride 1942:265). The altarpiece of the church at Santiago Atitlan is exemplary of the continuity of ancient Maya ideology. At its essence can be seen Maya cosmology shrouded in a thin Roman Catholic veneer.

It is with an understanding of this background that the visual imagery of the altarpiece at Santiago Atitlan can be understood.

Figure 3 (Christenson 2001:5)

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Drawing of central altarpiece by Allen J. Christenson.

Figure 4 (Christenson 2001:7)

The Altarpiece
The sixteenth century Roman Catholic church located in the Tz’utujil Maya

community of Santiago Atitlan contains a massive central altarpiece spanning across the entire apse wall (Christenson 2001:4). Maya traditionalists familiar with this structure merge the Christian symbols in this large carved wood sculpture with their traditional worldviews. The altarpiece is seen concurrently as “a sacred mountain from which divine beings emerge,” the three volcanoes surrounding Santiago Atitlan, and, in the broadest sense, a referent to ancient Maya temples and architecture (Christenson 2001:4, 71-73).

Although the altarpiece was originally carved as part of the colonial era church, it suffered from years of humidity, insects, and seismic activity (Christenson 2001:4, 51- 52). In 1960, an earthquake caused damage enough for the altarpiece to collapse. Wood pieces down to the tiniest splinters were salvaged considered sacred and part of this altarpiece which is considered a “living thing” that possesses a k’u’x (heart).

This idea of inanimate objects having a ‘heart’ relates to the indigenous Maya’s belief in nagualism. Thomas Gage one of the Dominican friars who lived in Guatemala and Mexico between 1625 and 1637 who reported:

Many are given to witchcraft, and are deluded by the devil to believe that their life dependeth upon the life of such and such a beast (which they take unto them as a familiar spirit) and think that when that beast dieth, they must die. When he is chased, their hearts pant; when he is faint, they are faint Gage 1958 [1648]: 234- 235).

Although in this quote Gage is referring to naguals and people he extends this and references to saints saying:

…they see some of them painted with beasts – Jerome with a lion, Anthony with an ass,…they are confirmed in their delusions, and think verily those saints were of their familiar spirits, and that they also were transformed into those shapes when they lived, and when they died, their beast died, too (Gage 1958 [1648]: 234-235).

Elements of Roman Catholic Church that formed connections with the indigenous Maya’s religious practices facilitated a segue into an amalgamated faith with Christian beliefs and saints being melded with those of the Maya (Orellana 1984:208). This merging is evidenced in forms carved into the altarpiece at Atitlan.

Father Francisco Rother commissioned Diego Chavez Petzey who was assisted by his brother Nicolas Chavez Sojuel to restore the damaged altarpiece in starting 1976 and continuing for five years (Christenson 2001:6). Both brothers offered their work as a sacrament feeling that accepting any more than food and housing would offend the ancestors (Christenson 2001:58). Father Rother supported much of the traditional Maya worship practices integrated into the Roman Catholic faith. The priest and the two brothers desired that the restored altarpiece honor the traditional Maya beliefs as well as those of the church. The brothers visited contemporary individuals who were active in traditional Maya spiritual life to collect myths and ritual practices which they could integrate into the altar design (Christenson 2001:61-52). In what might be called an artist’s statement, Diego said:

“I wanted to show the continued power of the past, only add new things to it…the Maya, remember the old customs and ceremonies and the great things that our ancestors have left to us. I tried to create something that would show what I could of the beliefs of my people and show that they are just as alive as those of the Christians” (Christenson 2001:6).

For Nicolas, showing the power of the past included infusing the power of the ‘nuwal’ in the panels he carved from Diego’s design was extremely important (Christenson 2001:56, 66 -67). He also wanted to honor the ‘nuwals’ that he believed lived in the wood itself. It also included integrating the imagery of the Roman Catholic Church with imagery carried down from ancient Maya tradition (Christenson 2001:64). The strength of the ancient Maya beliefs as they are expressed in the altarpiece can be seen in the overall design which is of the “flowering mountain earth” (Carlsen 1991:27).

The form of the altarpiece is conceptualized as the mountain (see figures 3 and 4) with the niches referencing the sacred caves within the mountain where, Nicolas relates, that “the gods, saints, and the most powerful ancestors live” (Carlsen 1997:52, Christenson 2001:14, Sandars 1994:108). The openings of the “sacred caves,” or niches, depicted in the altarpiece are surrounded by a motif that is recognized simultaneously as pinecones and jaguar teeth. The reference of pinecones is colonial in nature symbolizing new life and rebirth. However this same motif for the Tz’utujil Maya symbolizes jaguar teeth. In Maya cosmology, the jaguar “guards the way” into the home of the powerful ancestors, gods and saints.

However, this sacred mountain is a ‘flowering mountain earth’ the fruiting body of the ‘world tree’ (Carlsen 1997:50-51). It is the cosmic mountain, the “first mountain of creation” with the saints emerging from their niches as if they are coming from cave entrances within this mountain to “interact with those who come to worship them (Christenson 2001:75). This mountain, which is the ‘center of the world’ or ‘axis mundi,’ is at once the summit of the earth and the navel of the earth (Eliade 1991:42).

The project that the Chavez brothers embarked on was not a recreation of the previous altarpiece as it had been prior to the earthquakes, but, as in the tradition of their forefathers, they transformed the altarpiece into a sculpture that retained the history of ancient Maya, colonial Maya, and brought it alive with the ideas of contemporary Maya (Christenson 2001:57, 73). Diego reconstructed as much of the original altarpiece as possible with materials that had been salvaged and stored after the earthquake that had destroyed much of the altarpiece. However, he felt free to incorporate new elements into the design as he worked to make panels to fill voids for which salvaged materials were not available (figure 5). The new elements in the design include the sun vessel, the the ‘climbing saints, the basal panels, and the foliated tree at the summit of the altarpiece. The shape of the original altarpiece already referenced the sacred mountain and the niches the sacred caves. The restoration offered an opportunity to magnify this concept as a central idea for this monumental sculpture.

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(Christenson 2001:61)

Figure 5

The idea of the sacred is infused in the image and it creates a portal in time and space that transcends earthly limitations (Christenson 2001 66-67). For the Tz’utujil, such images “enter the realm of [the] mythic” unlimited by the mundane. Both the original altarpiece and the restored one are sacred objects and they are thought to have “come into being without the intervention of human hands” and are conceived as existing from time immemorial. This is in spite of the fact that many Atitecos know that the Chavez brothers carved the new panels for the altarpiece. Even those that understand the Chavez brothers physically carved the panels, at the “same time perceived it as a timeless vessel for the spirits that reside within it and give it power” (Christenson 2001:68).

The acheiropoietic (miraculous creation without human hands) creation of the original altarpiece is described in a Atiteco myth which says that a group of twelve powerful nuwals, “six brothers and six sisters” climbed up the mountains to the place that the ancient gods reside in caves and searched for a tree to watch over the saints (Christenson 2001:66). This tree would have to be willing to perform this duty. One after another, the trees refused until the cedar tree was asked, it agreed. A split-log drum was played by the sisters and the brothers burnt incense in front of the tree and asked its spirit to continue living after it was cut down and fashioned into an altarpiece. Nicolas relates:

No one cut down the tree or carved it as sculptors do today because it was the magic power of the nuwals that caused the axe and chisels to do their work. They did not have to touch the tools themselves. When the first axe-stroke hit the trunk, the tree cried out and bled but it did not die. Each subsequent stroke was accompanied by sacred prayers and songs that gave power to the wood and made it strong for its future task. When the wood of the cedar tree embraced them just as the mountains above the town guard the ancient gods and nuwals of the Tzutujils (Christenson 2001:67).

Sacredness of specific tree types, a pre-Columbian tradition, is also manifested in the belief that the Pito tree (Erythrina corallodendron) is able to speak (Orellana 1984:98). Seeds of the Pito tree are hallucinogenic when digested and may contribute to this idea of supernatural communication or ‘speech’ for the tree (Tedlock 2001:194). These trees and the objects carved from them are understood to be “receptacles for sacred power” each with a living heart (Christenson 2001:144).This heart known as the k’u’x and is essential as it visually manifests the divine nature of the object.

An intricate web of ideas exists in Maya cosmology itself and that web is revealed here. The cedar tree mentioned in the text above is being ‘fed’ by the ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’ ritually preparing for the tree to be ‘sacrificed.’ Copal incense is gathered from the sap of trees several types of trees including the cedar (Sharer 1994:540, Stross 2007). This offering is of the sap or ‘life blood’ of such a tree. By feeding the tree the offering of ‘blood’ from the tree that previously had ‘bloodletting’ performed upon it, the cedar tree in this ritual is given the power of “movement” (Carlsen 1997:56). The Atiteco cofradia ritual is part of the confraternity system which is independently administrated by the indigenous population retaining and perpetuating “elements of ancient Maya cosmology that run counter to the European notions of Catholic orthodoxy.” This power of movement is given by sacrifice and it is connected to the movement of the sun which is the “primary element in defining time” (Christenson 2001:11, Tarn 1997:56).

As the sun moves across the sky it endlessly is dying and being reborn (Carlsen 1997:56). Each birth is a dawning and the birth of a child, a seed sprouting, and the sun dawning are all referred to with the word xlexa derived from the verb lexic. Lexic means “to be derived from” and “represent the same process, and all reflect K’exoj, regeneration and renewal in the form of the original.” Tz’utujil Maya believe that an infant “is sprouted’ when it is born and sometimes it is stated that “he returned” for the “life essence is regenerated” (Carlsen 1991:28, 1997:54). In particular, this takes place in grandchildren with the grandchild being called “my replacement” by the grandparent.

Sunburst vessel from the outer edge and right-side of the third-tier of altarpiece.

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Figure 6 (Detail from Christenson 2001:7)
This regeneration is thought of in terms of the life cycle of maize. The Chavez brothers integrated the concept of maize and the cyclical nature of life into the motif of the altarpiece. Maya world organization is represented in the central altarpiece with the center top a stylized world tree (figures 3, 4, and 6). Although Nicolas Chavez referred to the tree as maize, Diego Chavez purposely left the image he carved ambiguous so as to signify all plants that give life (Christenson 2001:102).

Two concentric rings in the motif symbolize the human heart but at the same time is the heart of the sky and the earth. The inner circle is the sky and the outer circle the earth. Relationships can be seen here between the Quiche highland Maya ideologies and the Tz’utujil. Quiche Maya, also use the terms ‘heart of the sky’ (Uk’ux Kaj) and ‘heart of the earth’ (Uk’ux Ulew) for the creator gods in the Popol Vuh (Tedlock 1993:235).

According to the Popol Vuh, the ‘heart of the sky’ and ‘heart of the earth’ are named as such because they first conceived of the ‘sowing’ the “dawn of life” and forming the sky- earth (Tedlock 1996:64).

Just above these concentric rings are small circular beads representing a jade necklace which Diego says “identifies the tree as the source of power for the Maya” (Christenson 2001:102). The power of jade reinforces the message of the world tree for it represents a permanent condition of fertility and abundance and all that is youthful and evergreen (Miller 2004:53).

The original altarpiece also contained the concepts in the symbolism of maize. It was described in 1953 to anthropologist E. Michael Mendelson by the Atitecs as “mero, mero (the ‘real thing’) ‘the place where there is our mother corn” (Christenson 2001:103). In carving the current altarpiece, the Chavez brothers kept this concept in mind and strongly articulated the motifs in a manner that was consistent with the past and relevant to their present. The altarpiece is representative of the ‘flowering mountain earth’ and also alludes to the mound of earth used to support the maize stalk after it sprouts. It is the sustenance of life both physical and spiritual.

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World tree at center top of the central altarpiece at Santiago Atitlan. This tree is a symbol of the initial life that emerged from the center of the world.

Figure 6 (Christenson 2001:103)

Flowering world tree from the Temple of the Cross at Palenque. (Martin 2000:169)

Figure 7

A central theme in Atiteco Maya cosmology is maize emerging from the underworld depicted as the world tree or the maize god (Christenson 2001:105). This concept is not unique to the Atitecos and is depicted in the carved panel pictured above from Palenque. In this image the world tree arises from a vessel or incense burner and has the same king to the left and right of the tree first as a child and them as and adult (Martin 2001:169). Being the original Father/Mother, the tree can “renew and regenerate the world and is source of the cyclical nature of life (Carlsen 1997:52). The tree must be properly maintained, however, and the vessel or incense burner depicted in the Palenque panel may reference the offerings of food or burning of incense to ‘feed’ the tree of the world and so it has sprung forth. The grown king is shown offering cloth strips used in bloodletting as a sacrament perpetuating the life of the risen tree.

An integrated sacred space is created by piercing through each plan with the ‘axis mundi’ or the world tree thereby connecting Maya cosmological concepts in an inseparable manner creating a ‘world system’ (Eliade 1987:37-38). According to Eliade this ‘world system’ recognizes sacred space and such a realization creates a break in the continuity of space which is symbolized by a portal though which access from one region to another is made possible. The ‘world tree’ or maize tree in the case of the altarpiece signifies communication with the heavenly realm and around this tree or “‘cosmic axis’ lies the world.” The maize tree or axis is then the center of the world or the “navel of the earth.” Mendelson quoted an Atiteco who said that the Father/Mother maize tree and the regenerative process it possesses is the ”:root of the world…The village cannot go on living without it because it is an original thing: it is tied to the beginning of the world” (Carlsen 1997:52).

In the church at Santiago Atitlan this tree sprouts from the sacred mountain, the monumental form of the altarpiece itself, and the ‘navel of the world’ the sacred opening that gives access to the underworld is “3m. west of the raised altar in the center of the nave’s floor” (Christenson 2001:77). The floor of the church, then, is the membrane that separates worshipers from the underworld with the sacred mountain rising up out of the underworld.

This concept of rising out of the underworld is also symbolized as the maize god sprouting from the carapace of a giant turtle (figure 8). The maize god depicted on this plate is wearing jade just as the ‘maize tree’ on the altarpiece is adorned with a jade necklace signifying eternal life. At Copan the Maize god was also symbolized as emerging from a sacred mountain (figure 9).

Codex-style plate depicting the Maize God ascending from the carapace of a turtle which symbolizes the earth. The Hero Twin, Xbalanque (right ) and Hunahpu (left) are depicted assisting their father (Miller2004:56).

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This Maize God expresses renewal and freshness through a firm, youthful face with the leaves of the maize plant curving forward on his head. He emerged from carved stone and mountains and represents yearly renewal from the underworld (Miller 2004:66).

Figure 9

Paralleling the Maize God rising from the earth to the theology taught to Atitecos by the Roman Catholic Church is easily made by the Atitecos. The navel of the earth at Santiago Atitlan is uncovered once a year during Easter Week at midnight just before Holy Thursday (Christenson 2001:77). On Holy Friday, a large wooden cross with a carved figure of Christ is “planted” in the earth and are reborn ”just like new maize plants” that sprout from the soil. Here they merge the rebirth of Christ from the tomb with the Maize God rising from the sacred mountain or turtle carapace of Maya cosmology.

For the Atitecos, the altarpiece is part of a much larger expression of their cosmology and the sacred mountain and maize tree are the expression that can be readily seen above the church floor. The ‘navel of the world’ into which the cross is inserted is not simply a symbolic hole. This opening literally connects to a series of caves which reach out from under the church floor like roots of a tree (Christenson 2001:78). These caves are considered powerful ritual areas that lead to “the heart of the mountain where regenerative powers of the earth are centered” and where the dead can be approached.

So the ‘maize tree’ that crests at the peak of the ‘sacred mountain’ symbolized by the altarpiece being the ‘axis mundi’ connects the heavenly realm of the gods as it pierces the membrane of the temporal and connects to the underworld where it extends it root which are symbolized as caves.

Much in the same way the ‘axis mundi’ pierces the temporal plane, Maya cosmology ‘pierces’ through a veneer of Roman Catholic ideology and firmly proclaims the residents of Santiago Atitlan as rooted in ancient Maya thought. However this thought is expressed in a way that does not deny any part of Tz’utujil history, a history that includes Spanish invasion and the imposition of a new faith. The altarpiece at Santiago Atitlan stands as far more than an altar to Roman Catholic worship. Atitecos adeptly reinterpreted new imagery to conform to their traditional beliefs while embracing and reinterpreting the symbols. Perhaps, in this way, the altarpiece can be viewed as a monument to the Tz’utujil Maya who have conquered their Spanish invaders conceptually and kept as their spoils the icons of the Roman Catholic Church made to be their own.

Works Sited

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COPYRIGHT © 2004 by Barbara E. Verchot